Morkel urges patience for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as India prepare for first T20I in Lucknow
On the eve of India’s first T20I against West Indies in Lucknow on Tuesday, bowling coach Morne Morkel said on Monday he supported 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s progress even as head coach Gautam Gambhir has indicated the youngster must wait for another India chance.
Gambhir has maintained that India will not hastily break up the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, arguing the combination has delivered consistently and selection should not be driven by social-media noise but by what the coach and captain believe will win the match. Sooryavanshi returns from the Asian Games in Nagoya, where he opened for India and scored 38 off 21 balls against Sri Lanka in the semi-final and 15 off nine in the gold-medal match against Pakistan; he had previously been unused in three T20Is against Afghanistan in New Delhi.
Morkel said simply being in the India dressing room and training with established players can accelerate the teenager’s development. "We all know the talent of Vaibhav. I think the more time he spends in this environment, with quality players, the more time he trains at this standard, it will only be great for his cricket," Morkel said on Monday.
The coach outlined what Sooryavanshi can learn without necessarily making the XI, highlighting observation of senior players’ routines and innings preparation. "If he's not getting that game time, he's still on a bus, in the dugout, in the hotel with guys with a lot of experience," he said. "Just actually watching how the guys go through their processes and how they set up innings will be key for him."
Morkel said he actively pushes the youngster to reflect on what he sees in seniors’ batting and training. "I always ask him on the bus, 'what's the one thing you've learned today? Tell me, what did you think about that guy's batting?' And that makes him think," Morkel said, describing how the questioning is intended to sharpen Sooryavanshi’s awareness.
He also warned against reading the Asian Games XI as a blueprint for the West Indies series, noting the selection for Nagoya was made by the management of that campaign and the current setup will choose its own combination. "That's the combination they felt for them at the Asian Games," Morkel said. "We'll work out tonight here what is the best combination for us going into the series."
Morkel added the immediate task is to assess players returning from the Asian Games before finalising the XI. "We'll all assess how everybody's feeling after jet lag, after travelling, and then from there, make a plan," he said.
For now, the question around Sooryavanshi centers on timing rather than talent: Gambhir has asked him to wait, while Morkel's message is to wait, watch, learn and make the environment count; with Abhishek, Samson and Vaibhav competing for two opening slots, the opening call in Lucknow will offer the first indication of how India intend to manage that competition on home soil.
