The return of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to domestic cricket was far from a success as the young batsman was bowled for only eight runs in the quarter-final of the Duleep Trophy between the East and the North East in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The East Zone vice-captain was aggressive at the beginning as he scored two back-to-back boundaries against Bishworjit Konthoujam. But it was not to be as he hit a short-of-length edge from the same over, outside off towards gully.
This one was another rough red-ball outing.This was another difficult red-ball outing.
Sooryavanshi’s premature release has again been a problem for him to develop his red-ball game. The youngster has already acquired a vast amount of attention for his T20 performances but his first-class statistics are still relatively low.
He has played eight first-class matches for Bihar, scoring 12 innings with a highest score of 93. His averages of over 17 remain well short of the ceiling in the longer format, however.
Dravid has called for a balance.
Recently, former Indian captain Rahul Dravid has come out with a similar message, urging that opportunities be afforded to Sooryavanshi in both white-ball and red-ball cricket.
During the IPL, the teenager gained valuable experience and needs to be exposed to the domestic first-class system on a regular basis, Dravid said. He says it is important to nurture players who can play in all formats in the future of Test cricket.
Sooryavanshi’s most recent outing in the Duleep Trophy will be another chance for him to get some practice in tough red-ball cricket.
Strong Start to International Career
Sooryavanshi, despite not having been able to do well in first class cricket has already made history in International level cricket.
At the tender age of 15 years and 99 days, he made his debut for India in the T20 format of the game against England on tour. He made his international debut breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of being the youngest debuter for India.
The England series proved to be a tough draw for the teenager, however. He was held scoreless in three innings in India’s 1-4 series defeat, as the Indian team failed to score 20 runs in all three innings.
Impressive Numbers Against Zimbabwe
Sooryavanshi made a good impression on the next tour for India to Zimbabwe.
He was the top scorer in the series with his 151 runs from three innings which featured two half centuries. His average was 50.33 and his strike rate was an impressive 196.10.
His performances also won him the Player of the Series award as the Indians won the series with Shreyas Iyer at the helm in the new battlegrounds of T20Is.
In all six T20Is, Sooryavanshi has scored 193 runs (2 fifties) with an impressive strike rate of 189.21, and an average of 32.16.
With his explosive T20 stats, he’s already one of India’s most intriguing young prospects. But now the question is whether a player can be patient and develop the skill to become successful in red-ball cricket repeatedly.
