Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in action during IPL 2026© AFP
South Africa legend AB De Villiers was all praise for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and said that he expects the 15-year-old to play all three formats. He also said that it was a brave decision by the BCCI selectors to include him for the Ireland and England T20Is after a sensational IPL 2026 campaign. Sooryavanshi won the Orange Cap after scoring 776 runs for Rajasthan Royals at a strike rate above 220. De Villiers pointed out that Sooryavanshi may face some challenges if he decides to play red-ball cricket but quickly added that he has the skill as well as ability to adapt to the longest format of the sport.
“Yeah, he’s a wonderful talent. The red-ball thing I absolutely cannot answer. I think he can if he wants to, but there’s your answer, and there’s the big question as well is does he really want to? There’s no doubt he’s got the talent and the ability to do so. It won’t always be easy, and I’ve mentioned that a few times before,” De Villiers said at an event.
“If he decides to play red-ball cricket, there will be some challenges, but he’s got the skill and the ability to work through that and in my opinion, I hope he does try and play Test cricket, but I doubt it. We’ll see in future,” he added.
De Villiers went on to say that selectors could not have selected him citing his age but they showed courage to pick him for the series and give him the opportunity.
“It’s definitely the right call from the selectors. So well done to them for making the brave decision. It would have been easy to say that he’s still too young and he’s not ready, and go for more experience. He’s broken down that door, and he deserves his place in the Indian T20 team, so I’m happy for him,” De Villiers said.
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