Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has not been picked for the first India vs Afghanistan T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The decision is surprising, as the teenager was the Player of the Series in India’s last T20I series in Zimbabwe. He was the top scorer in the series. Captain Shreyas Iyer did not give a clear reason for overlooking Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, but with India opting for Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, the team management is clearly looking to prioritise experience.
India legend Sunil Gavaskar agreed with the decision, saying that Sooryavanshi has age on his side.
Here is what Shreyas Iyer said: “[On managing team combinations and selecting players for the match] That is more difficult, I feel. But I would say if Vaibhav (Sooryavanshi) is not playing, then Washington (Sundar) is not playing, and there are two more which you’ll get to know,” India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy. More updates to follow
