Team India’s acting head coach VVS Laxman praised 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi for showing impressive maturity during the recent T20 series against Zimbabwe. However, the former India batsman said that the young opener will have to improve his fitness to be consistently successful at the highest level.
India completed a 3-0 series sweep of Zimbabwe with a comfortable 35-run win at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Sunday, July 26. For the visiting team, Vaibhav scored 81 runs in 49 balls, which included eight fours and four sixes. He was named both Player of the Match and Player of the Series.
Overall fitness is an area we want him to improve on – VVS Laxman on Vaibhav Suryavanshi
Speaking after the third T20I in Harare, VVS Laxman said that Vaibhav Suryavanshi grew as a cricketer and a person. The stand-in India head coach said that Kishore has shown remarkable maturity over the last six months and has handled the pressure exceptionally well.
Laxman said, “But what is really impressive is his growth as a person. The maturity level, understanding and awareness have really skyrocketed in the last six months. That is why he is able to handle difficult situations. He is able to perform under pressure against the best players.”
However, Laxman said that the 15-year-old player needs to improve his fitness. He said Suryavanshi wanted to stay on the field after suffering an injury during the final T20 match, before the team physio asked him to come off.
“One of the areas we want him to improve is his overall fitness. We also have to remember he is just 15 years old. He is a very young boy. He himself wants to get better in every aspect of the game. Even though he was injured, he still wanted to be on the field. But it was our physio who actually asked him to come out.”
We first recognized him two and a half years ago – VVS Laxman
VVS Laxman revealed that BCCI had identified Vaibhav Suryavanshi as a special talent about two and a half years ago. Laxman said that the coaches have kept a close eye on not only his cricket but also his personality and overall development.
“I think we know Vaibhav very well. I think, we first got to know him two and a half years ago, just before the 2024 Under-19 World Cup. He was part of the quadrangular series in Vijayawada, and he was one of the top scorers for India B,” Laxman said.
“Since then, he has been in different camps in the CoE. Then he was the leading run-scorer in the Under-19 World Cup. So we know him inside and out. It’s not just the player, but we also know the person. When you know the person, what works for him and how do we prepare him so that he is in the best mental state when he goes into the match, that’s something we try to do.”
Vaibhav Suryavanshi ends breakthrough series in style
Vaibhav Suryavanshi finished the Zimbabwe series as the leading run-scorer, scoring 151 runs in three innings at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of over 196. The left-handed opening batsman scored two half-centuries, including a match-winning innings of 81 off 49 balls in the series finale.
He scored the joint slowest T20 half-century of his career.. His performances earned him both Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards. At the age of just 15, Suryavanshi also became the youngest male cricketer to win the Player of the Series award in international cricket.
The youngster has made a strong comeback after a difficult debut series in England, where he struggled to make an impact. Vaibhav Suryavanshi also impressed in the field, taking a sharp catch to dismiss Brian Bennett off Mayank Yadav in the third T20I.