Former Indian opener and commentator Aakash Chopra expressed disappointment at Vaibhav Sooryavanshi not getting a chance in the fourth T20I against New Zealand, which India lost by 87 runs at Eden Park in Auckland.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra asserted that Sooryavanshi can be released and sent home to play red-ball domestic cricket if he is played in the national team only when someone is injured or unavailable.
“Last match, Abhishek made 100 and Vaibhav missed his 50. But the batting was very good. After that, the question was, if Ishan is fit, who will go out. If you think philosophically, then the answer is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi since he replaced an injured Kishan. But this was a dead rubber,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“The decision to drop Vaibhav Sooryavanshi leads to a bigger question. Will you play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi only when someone is injured? Or when someone is unavailable? If that is the case, you can send him home. You can tell him to go and play first-class cricket. Of course, he can learn by staying in the Indian dressing room. But, if it’s happening for an extended period, it’s better he gets bat on ball,” he added.
Further, Chopra noted that the Indian team management, headed by Gautam Gambhir, needs to come out and share what their roadmap and philosophy is in terms of Sooryavanshi’s place in the playing XI.
“The team should come out and share what their roadmap and philosophy is. Maybe they have already thought about it and have already charted out a plan. But they haven’t told anybody. As such, we don’t know what they are going to do with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. His absence was a little disappointing,” he concluded.
India will play the fifth and final T20I of the series at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday, November 1.
