India bowling coach Morne Morkel has said that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi can learn by being with the team and interacting with the senior members of the squad, even though he is not getting game time in T20Is. Morkel regularly speaks to the 15-year-old to seek his opinion.
Sooryavanshi played in the semifinal and the final of the Asian Games men’s cricket tournament. He scored 38 off 21 in the semifinal against Sri Lanka and 15 off 9 in the final against Pakistan.
Speaking to the reporters ahead of the first contest in Lucknow, Morkel pointed out how the young batter can improve his game when he is not in the starting XI.
“We all know about Vaibhav’s talent. The more time he spends with quality players and trains, the better it will be for his game,” he said.
“If he is not getting matches, he is still part of the team bus and the dugout. He is with the guys in the hotel. Watching them train and go through their processes will be key for Vaibhav. I always ask him about what he learned today. We also talk about someone’s batting, and that makes him think,” Morkel added.
In 8 T20Is, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has scored 246 runs at an average of 30.75 and a strike rate of 186.36, with two fifties.
After the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, India head coach Gautam Gambhir had said that Sooryavanshi would have to wait for his chances in the playing XI, considering the presence of the senior players in the squad. However, with VVS Laxman as the head of the national team at the Asian Games, Suryavanshi was given a chance to open the batting.
Morkel didn’t reveal India’s playing XI for the first T20I of the five-match series against the West Indies but hinted that they might not stick to the combination of the Asian Games.
“That’s the combination they felt was right for the Asian Games. We will work out the best combination for us in the West Indies series. We will assess how everyone is feeling after jet lag and then come up with a plan.”
The series opener will be played at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday, October 6.