Mitchell Santner and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi - (Source: AFP)
On Thursday, October 22, India and New Zealand will lock horns for the 1st of a five-match T20I series. Ahead of the curtain raiser, both captains, Shreyas Iyer and Mitchell Santner, met for the photoshoot and media duties. Santner, who will lead the Kiwis, spoke about facing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Santner addressed the threat that the 15-year-old possess, but remarked that the Kiwis are ready with a plan for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
New Zealand Ready With A Plan For Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Mitchell Santner revealed that the Kiwis’ tracked India’s recent series and are aware that the youngster is spending most of his time on the bench. Nonetheless, Santner praised the RR opener and remarked that the team is ready with a plan for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
“So if he does, you know, get a crack at the series, we’ve seen, you know, what he can do, and guys have found it quite hard to stop him. I know England, in the series away, went quite short and hard at a lot of Indian batters, but you know, I think we’ve seen in the IPL how aggressive he can be. So we’ve got plans for him if that happens, if he happens to play.”
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Told To Wait For His Chances By Management
Vaibhav earned his maiden India call-up for the Ireland and England series. The youngster sat on the bench against the Irish but made his debut in front of the Three Lions. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played three games there but was benched after an underwhelming display.
The 15-year-old started against Zimbabwe and slammed his maiden fifty, but since then he has been on the bench behind Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson in the pecking order. Recently, Shreyas Iyer addressed the same issue and stated that the youngster will have to wait for his chances.
Mitchell Santner Acknowledges Samson-Sharma Threat; Hopeful Of Sooryavanshi
Santner stated that Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have done well for India and is hopeful that Sooryavanshi will do well in the future if not in this series.
“Sanju and Abhishek have done really well. So, you know, I think it’s one of those things where we know how good he is and then, you know, the guys who are playing are also doing very well. So I think he has a huge part to play for India, you know, whether it’s the series or not, but in the future.”
Notably, Santner met India during the 2026 T20 World Cup final, where Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma stitched a 98-run opening stand.
.jpg)
.jpg?type=mq "Hardik Pandya Update")
