Former Indian chairman of selectors and commentator Kris Srikkanth has slammed the Indian team management for dropping Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from the playing XI for the first T20I against Afghanistan in Delhi.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth asserted that even his wife started questioning the 15-year-old’s exclusion from the XI despite being the player of the series on his most recent T20I tour of Zimbabwe.
“Yesterday, because Sooryavanshi didn’t play, we started watching a movie. My wife was shouting that Sooryavanshi didn’t play and started arguing that someone who was the Player of the Match in the last match isn’t playing. Even my wife is questioning his exclusion. You are not treating Sooryavanshi properly. Now, if he plays the next match, he’ll wonder whether he’ll be dropped if he doesn’t score,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Further, Srikkanth advised the team management to utilise the teen batting sensation properly, as he has been constantly drawing huge crowds wherever he is playing across different formats of the game.
“These are sending wrong signals, and you are creating doubts in all the players’ minds. Sooryavanshi has scored at every level from Duleep Trophy, T20Is, for India-A and the IPL. You should be promoting him. There was a huge crowd at Chepauk Stadium only to watch him play on Day 1. After that, no one went. So the entire world is watching when he plays. If you are discouraging such a player, it’s not right,” he added.
Sooryavanshi won the Player of the Series (POTS) award during India’s T20I tour of Zimbabwe in July 2026. At just 15 years old, he became the youngest male player ever to win a Player of the Series award in men’s international cricket.
