Former Indian batter and analyst Mohammad Kaif has asserted that the Indian teen batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi should play with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson in the playing XI.
It’s important to note that all three batters played in the recently concluded Asian Games 2026 under VVS Laxman. However, Sooryavanshi was left out of the playing XI for the first T20I against the West Indies.
“When Laxman is the coach, he plays Vaibhav. And his team wins too. There is a plan. These calls are taken after thinking it all out. Gambhir still needs to find this way. But we can argue that Shreyas is the common captain. Maybe in the future, they find a way till the 2028 World Cup for all three to play together. Whenever there is a chance, play all three together,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
Further, Kaif advised the Indian team management, headed by Gautam Gambhir, to bring in all three batters to the playing XI by some means or other way in the near future. Notably, his comments came right after India’s comfortable eight-wicket win in the first T20I against the West Indies.
“You have found ways to make many players debut, right? So many are coming in. So find a way for this to happen as well. Maybe they cannot now, but they have to figure out how to do this in the future. The kind of players we are getting now, it is lucky to be coaching, actually. You only need to make the right selections and back them then. Your eyes have to be on building the right team and picking proper players,” he added.
India’s T20I squad vs WI: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [WK], Sanju Samson [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Naman Dhir
