Veteran cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Vaibhav Suryavanshi for playing a match-winning knock for India A in the tri-series final against Sri Lanka A. He added that the 15-year-old is virtually embarrassing his more experienced teammates.
However, Suryavanshi smashed 94 runs off 29 balls as India A set Sri Lanka A a 378-run target in Dambulla on Sunday, June 21. They then bowled out the home team for 311 to register an emphatic 66-run win as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “What is this kid doing? He is embarrassing everyone a little. He will make everyone feel a little insecure at the start, as to how he can play like this, because all of us are playing there only. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Priyansh Arya, and Tilak Varma were also there. It is a very decent India A squad.”
“However, when this kid starts hitting, it seems like he is at a different level. He reached his fifty off 11 balls. He is breaking List A records for fun, and that too in a final. He scored 94 in the final here, 175 in the Under-19 World Cup final, and you can see the Eliminator against the SunRisers Hyderabad and the Qualifier 2 against the Gujarat Titans,” he added.
“If you have to score runs, stop competing with Vaibhav Suryavanshi” – Aakash Chopra
“As soon as you increase the pressure, this kid shines even more. Such high-risk players are slightly 50-50 when the pressure increases because you realize that there is no tomorrow if you make a mistake. Once that comes to your mind, you change your game a little and become slightly conservative at times, and even if you are not conservative, you don’t have full conviction in your shots. He is not feeling the pressure of knockout matches at all,” Chopra explained.
However, Aakash Chopra also advised Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s teammates not to compete with him if they want to be successful.
“For people playing with him, a 15-year-old kid comes and starts hitting, and at times, you feel you can go shoulder to shoulder with him and hit like him. After a while, he makes you realize that you should surrender, as you cannot hit like him. If you have to score runs, stop competing with Vaibhav Suryavanshi. If you are unable to compete with a 15-year-old kid, you doff your hat and say that this boy is incredible. The only flip side of that is that he can be slightly inconsistent, which was the case in this series. However, the day he scores runs, he is like a shadow over everyone else,” Chopra concluded.
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