NEW DELHI: The debate over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s India debut refuses to die down. The 15-year-old batting sensation has been part of India’s T20I squads for the tours of Ireland and England, but is still waiting for his first international cap.While fans continue to demand his inclusion, former Indian captain Kapil Dev: shared an interesting perspective. While he cautioned against creating too much hype around the kid, he also said that India will not have to wait long if they believe he is ready.Draw a comparison with: Sachin Tendulkaron early debut, Kapil said. “There are a couple of things – and we can talk about Sachin because he was the same age when he played. We used to wonder if we had played him earlier. But when you see history, you realize (and think), ‘kabhi kabhi late na ho jaye’ (what if you delay it?).”
‘Count his ability, not his age’
Kapil believes that Sooryavanshi should be selected on merit, not based on his age.“I feel that if he is ready, his age should not be (considered) but his ability should be.“He is as good as Sachin and Virat in terms of talent”Kapil also greatly admires the natural ability of the young man.He said Sooryavanshi possesses the kind of talent seen in legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, though he still needs to prove himself outside the T20 format.“If you talk about talent, yes he is as good as Sachin (Tendulkar) or Virat Kohli and the talent is visible in him for T20, (but) for the rest (of the formats), he has to prove (himself),” Kapil said. On the day he plays Test cricket, can he play a maiden five overs? He was amazing in T20s, to make such an impact at such a young age, you don’t see even one percent of such people in the world.”
“Don’t create too much hype”
While supporting the youngster’s talent, Kapil also advised everyone to give him time to develop.“I’ve seen him a lot, seen very little. He’s got a lot of talent, no doubt about it,” Kapil said.“But (at the same time), I think we talk too much about him. Right now, he needs to be given time. Don’t create too much (hype) around him, someone at a young age doesn’t even have that understanding…”, he said.
Hard times are coming
Kapil also reminded everyone that every great batter goes through tough phases in their career.According to him, the real test for Sooryavanshi will be how he handles the challenges.“It’s not that his bad patch doesn’t come, tough times come, how can he come out of it? There are only a few cricketers who never had a bad patch, be it Sachin Tendulkar or Sunil Gavaskar or Vivian Richards,” he said.“All players have gone through tough times… and a cricketer of his calibre, (it remains to be seen) how he will come out of it? He looks very talented and the kids from the new generation are just confident,” he added.Sooryavanshi earned his place in the Indian squad after a sensational season in the IPL and traveled with the team to Ireland and England.