India men’s cricket team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir said the 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will have to wait for his opportunity in the senior national team, stressing that players who have performed consistently over the last few years will remain ahead of newcomers. Speaking at the post-match press conference after India’s 127-run win over Afghanistan in the third and final T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Thursday, Gambhir said Sooryavanshi would get a longer run when his chance arrived.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir said 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi must wait for senior team opportunities, prioritizing consistent performers over newcomers.
We know the kind of talent he has and what he can do, but someone who has been performing for the last 2–3 years will always be ahead of someone who has just entered the team. Whether you’re a 15-year-old or a 30-year-old, when you have to wait for your opportunity, you have to wait for your opportunity,” said the head coach. Samson scored 50 in the series-deciding match after registering another half-century in the previous game.
Because those guys, after three or four failures, do not become bad players,” he said. Gambhir said India had been keen to return to the combination that won the T20 World Cup, adding that a few failures did not make established players bad.
Obviously, it was tough—probably the toughest decision I’ve taken in my coaching tenure was leaving him out in that England series, considering how he performed prior to that,” said Gambhir. So, we always knew that if the best team goes—or the frontline players go to the Asian Games—we will probably have to compromise a bit in this ODI series against the West Indies,” said Gambhir. “From Vaibhav’s point of view, it was a very clear conversation that he will have to wait for his opportunity. Whenever he gets his run, he will get a longer run as well. That is what Indian cricket is all about—we want competition and talent in the dressing room, but that’s how cricket goes. Gambhir backed Samson’s selection, saying the wicketkeeper-batter’s talent and past performances warranted his place in the dressing room. “I think his [Samson’s] talent itself is enough for him to be in the dressing room. I think he’s shown what he’s capable of. Someone doesn’t become a Player of the Tournament in a World Cup without having that talent. So he’s done enough. “But again, sometimes you go with player form as well. In this series, we were always very clear from my point of view that we wanted to go back to the combination we had during the World Cup. “We know that it’s not ideal when you’re preparing for a World Cup which is in a year’s time. But again, the Asian Games squad was selected long back, and sometimes it’s difficult for the selectors when they have to put the best squad in place.
