Shreyas Iyer says Vaibhav Sooryavanshi must wait as India openers deliver

Christchurch: India T20 captain Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday said young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi cannot "walk" into the playing eleven just yet as Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are scoring consistently at the top, insisting that the teenager will get his chances in due course.

Since being picked for the England and Ireland tour earlier this year, Sooryavanshi has featured in eight of the 21 T20Is India have played so far as regular openers Abhishek and Samson have been performing consistently.

Also Read: New Zealand study Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ahead of T20 series, expect home conditions to test teen


Both of them played a key role in India defending their T20I World Cup title earlier this year.

"It's important that a talent like him (Sooryavanshi) should always be happy around the dressing room," Iyer said on the eve of a five-match series against New Zealand here.

"He is very young, he has more years to get opportunities. It's not like he can walk in right now, because our openers are scoring consistently, and they have won the World Cup."

At the Asian Games, Samson dropped down to number three to accommodate Sooryavanshi, allowing the youngster to open the innings.

Also Read: How Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, became the great sporting prodigy of this generation

Iyer, however, believes the youngster's exposure to overseas conditions will help him prepare better for future assignments.

"So, if you see, when he is coming overseas, he will get a fair idea how to play on these particular wickets.

"Next time, whenever he comes in these conditions, he will be very well-prepared. And he can also instruct the other team members, whoever comes here for the first time."