Aakash Chopra disappointed with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s omission in 4th T20 vs NZ

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Former Indian international Aakash Chopra has asked strong questions regarding the team management’s decision to leave out young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the fourth T20I against New Zealand following Ishan Kishan’s return to fitness. Chopra said that promising talent should not be treated merely as a temporary solution during injury layoffs.

Sooryavanshi was brought into the side for the second and third T20Is after Ishan Kishan suffered an injury setback. The young batter registered scores of 4 and 45 during his brief stint before being relegated back to the bench for the fourth encounter.

Analysing the selection logic on his YouTube channel, Chopra said,

“Last match, Abhishek made 100 and Vaibhav missed his 50. But the batting was very good. After that, the question was, if Ishan is fit, who will go out. If you think philosophically, then the answer is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi since he replaced an injured Kishan. But this was a dead rubber.”

Chopra demands clear roadmap and strategy for young talent

Chopra further emphasised that continuous bench-warming could stop the youngster’s development, questioning whether Sooryavanshi is viewed strictly as a backup option:

“The decision to drop Vaibhav Sooryavanshi leads to a bigger question. Will you play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi only when someone is injured? Or when someone is unavailable? If that is the case, you can send him home. You can tell him to go and play first-class cricket. Of course, he can learn by staying in the Indian dressing room. But if it’s happening for an extended period, he should get bat on ball,” he added.

Calling for greater transparency, Chopra urged the Indian management to outline their vision for the youngster.

“The team should come out and share what their roadmap and philosophy is. Maybe they have already thought about it and have already charted out a plan. But they haven’t told anybody. As such, we don’t know what they are going to do with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. His absence was a little disappointing,” Chopra said.

Kishan’s comeback proved underwhelming as he fell for a duck, with India eventually collapsing to 172/9 in pursuit of New Zealand’s massive 259-run target.

(With inputs from agencies)

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