Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has voiced his opinion on the major problem the teen batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi might face going ahead in his career in the shortest format of the game.
Sooryavanshi, who made his debut in the second T20I against England, managed to score only 14 runs off 10 balls before getting out to an off-spinner Will Jacks. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif asserted that Sooryavanshi needs to work on facing off-spinners properly.
“I feel the start was okay. He got out because he does not play off-spin a lot. Even when he opened in the IPL, how many times did he get to face an off-spinner? This is the problem. It was his first match, and I will not judge. But he might have to work on this,” Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
Furthermore, Kaif has also heaped praise on the Indian dashing opener Abhishek Sharma, who has worked a lot on facing off-spinners perfectly well. Notably, he suffered from poor form against off-spinners during the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign.
“Abhishek has become a much better player against the off-spinner. He has shown improvement in his game. Where he had to pause and train for it, he did it. He did it after he got that blow in the World Cup. But this is what I am telling, why wait till the blow? After getting out or losing, you have to work anyway. But a smart person works on this from the start itself,” he added
Later, Kaif also lauded Sooryavanshi for fielding for all 20 overs of the second innings. Notably, the teen batting prodigy couldn’t get much to field during the IPL 2026 season as he was used as an Impact Player.
“Sooryavanshi hits sixes, he has in the IPL also. That is okay. But I was the happiest seeing him field for 20 overs, and he took a difficult catch under pressure. This shows his fielding ability as well. I feel he has the skill to become a good fielder. So I was happy in that sense. He will score runs. That is not the worry. I would say it was a good debut overall,” he said.
“We must make him field more in the IPL. We have already judged that maybe he is not a good fielder and have predetermined him as an impact player. Don’t do that. The coaches in the IPL have the responsibility to improve a young, exciting player in all aspects,” Kaif concluded.
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