Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for India ahead of New Zealand series - (Source: AFP)A busy cricketing season awaits the Indian cricket team. The Shubman Gill-led side have West Indies challenge ahead of it, which will be followed by the New Zealand series. Notably, India will travel Down Under after the 2022/2023 season.The Men in Blue will tour New Zealand for 5 T20Is, 5 ODIs, and 2 Tests starting from October 22. The upcoming series will mark 1st Kiwi tour for several Indian stars, including Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Set For Tricky Challenge In New ZealandVaibhav Sooryavanshi rose to prominence with a brilliant IPL 2026, where he scored 776 runs in 16 innings, earning him an India call-up at 15. So far, the youngster has played just 6 T20Is for India.The left-handed batter made his debut against England in England which didn’t go as per plan. Sooryavanshi amassed just 42 runs in 3 innings, averaging 14.00. His breakout series was against Zimbabwe, where the 15-year-old scored 151 runs in 3 innings, including two fifties.Since then, Sooryavanshi has been behind Sanju Samson in the pecking order and is currently in Japan for the Asian Games 2026. The youngster’s next big challenge will be in New Zealand, where he will be challenged by top-green, bouncy, swinging tracks. New Zealand coach issues threat to Vaibhav SooryavanshiIn the latest events, New Zealand head coach Rob Walter has issued a threat to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and remarked that he would love to see him under pressure."Yes, I'd love to see him on some pace on bouncy wickets and see how different that looks. But he's an exciting player. You've seen him dominate against the world's best bowlers in the IPL. I think the challenge is always to see how that translates to different conditions and also how we bowl to him in our conditions," Rob Walter remarked.Also Read: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s Latest India Snub Leaves Japan Captain Disappointed"Again, secretly as a coach, you always want to see your players under a little bit of pressure and how we respond to that. So looking forward to it, if that is the case. If he's not here, they do have a lot of very good players other than him," he added.Will Sooryavanshi Struggle in New Zealand: His Record in SENA countriesSooryavanshi has only made his debut in T20Is and is yet to challenge himself outside England Zimbabwe. Nonetheless, he has played a lot of youth cricket across the globe and let’s look at his records in SENA nations.Sooryavanshi has played 4 Youth Tests across England and Australia, amassing 223 runs in 7 innings, averaging 33.33 in SENA nations in Youth Tests.Further, in Youth ODIs, Sooryavanshi has played 11 innings, scoring 685 runs. Hence, Sooryavanshi has indeed challenged himself in difficult situations and done well. Also Read: Angkrish Raghuvanshi Promoted To Leadership Role As BCCI Announces Rest Of India U23 Squad
