NEW DELHI: India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan backed teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying the 15-year-old has all the qualities to be a match-winner for the national team.Kishan’s comments came after India’s 90-run win over Zimbabwe in the second T20I in Harare on Saturday. India were in early trouble after losing Abhishek Sharma (8) and Sooryavanshi (20) within the first three overs, fell to 29/2. Kishan then played a brilliant knock of 81 off 44 balls to guide India to 219/5. Zimbabwe were later bowled out for 129 as India sealed the three-match series 2-0 with one match to spare.Kishan said senior members of the squad are helping Sooryavanshi settle into international cricket and have urged him not to ignore distractions from the game.
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“Vaibhav is actually very smart. He knows what he is doing,” Kishan said after India’s win.“He knows how to bat and how to carry himself off the field.”The wicketkeeper-batter revealed that he, Abhishek Sharma, is the captain Axar Patel and other experienced players regularly talk to the youngster to make sure he stays focused.“When you represent India, you have to know what to focus on,” he said.“I, Abhishek, Axar bhai and many others kept telling him to think about cricket, not social media or outside noise.”Kishan said the team wanted Sooryavanshi to learn from the experiences of senior players and avoid getting distracted early in his career.“When you have a player like that and you know he’s young, you don’t want to distract him for the wrong reasons.“So we work as a team, we are like brothers and he is from my place, so we should just be happy, focus on important things. The mistakes we made when we started, he should not do. He should enjoy his cricket, as he is doing now.”Kishan believes that Sooryavanshi’s attacking style can have a big impact on India’s performances.“If he stays on the pitch, the difference he can make for the team is huge. A player who can attack from the first ball can take you to 80-90 runs in the powerplay,” he said.