Vaibhav Sooryavanshi dismissed by Bishworjit Konthoujam. Image Credits: Web
A lot was expected of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the Duleep Trophy 2026 tournament. His former Rajasthan Royals coach, Rahul Dravid, even vouched for the youngster to play in India’s Test team, but for that, he needed a strong start against the North East Zone in his first Duleep Trophy match.
However, after a couple of glorious hits, Sooryavanshi ran out of patience as the East Zone opener was dismissed for a paltry 8 off 6, and he had a disappointing first-innings score on a relatively good surface to bat on at the CoE.
His short stay at the crease was ended by North East Zone pacer Bishworjit Konthoujam, as the 30-year-old bowler had the last laugh against a dangerous Sooryavanshi.
Meet Bishworjit Konthoujam, the pacer who dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Sooryavanshi had the golden chance to dominate the proceedings, but Konthoujam had some other plans as he trapped the 15-year-old, and he was caught in gully. The 30-year-old pacer is deceptively quick and has the ability to nip the ball both ways to trouble the batters.
The pacer has played 47 first-class domestic matches and has picked 145 wickets, with an
average of 27.82. The pacer made his first-class debut in the 2018-19 season and was the leading wicket-taker for Manipur in the tournament: 30 dismissals in eight matches.
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Apart from an interesting first-class journey, Konthoujam has also taken part in 49 List-A games and has 66 wickets, with an average of 27.12.
Sooryavanshi's poor first-class journey continues with another failure
Sooryavanshi has been excellent in the T20 format and has been superb in List-A cricket as well. However, for some reason, the left-handed opener has yet to crack red-ball cricket, as he failed to deliver the goods in East Zone’s Duleep Trophy opener.
White-ball cricket has become his bread and butter, but the 15-year-old prodigy needs to find ways to score runs in first-class cricket, and his numbers reveal a sorry state of affairs.
Before the Duleep Trophy match against North East Zone, Sooryavanshi had played eight first-class matches, and the batter had just scored 207 runs, with an average of 17.25.
Experts have touted to him to make his India Test debut soon, but the southpaw has yet to justify his talent in red-ball cricket as Konthoujam outclassed him in the Duleep Trophy match.
Playing Duleep Trophy matches, a bit too much for young Sooryavanshi?
It’s almost like the T20 format, and ODIs are tailor-made for Sooryavanshi to dominate, but for some reason, he looks out of his depth in red-ball cricket. For a batter who takes down attacks with utmost ease in the IPL, Sooryavanshi has failed to convert his potential into big scores in the game’s longest format.
Red-ball cricket demands that players adjust according to different situations, and that could be a big roadblock for a young Sooryavanshi, as the weight of expectations is way too much.
Coaches might urge the youngster to curb his attacking instinct in this format, and that could be costly for Sooryavanshi, who is known for playing an aggressive brand of cricket that has yielded him results.
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