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Shreyas Iyer sends blunt message to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after repeatedly benching him

India captain Shreyas Iyer has defended the decision to exclude young batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from the opening lineup throughout the five-match T20I series against the West Indies, citing the strong form of established openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. The series concluded in a 2-2 draw after the final match in Bengaluru was reduced to nine overs per side due to heavy rain, with India finishing on 118/5 before the game was abandoned.

Samson and Sharma dominated the series, with Samson scoring 168 runs at an average of 33.6 and Sharma adding 145 runs at a strike rate of 181.25, both registering two half-centuries. Sooryavanshi, who made his senior India debut earlier this year against England, remains on the bench despite his impressive IPL 2026 season with Rajasthan Royals, where he won the Orange Cap with 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30.

The 15-year-old has played eight T20Is, scoring 246 runs at an average of 30.75, but has yet to feature in an international match on home soil. India’s next challenge begins on October 22 with a multi-format tour of New Zealand, where Sooryavanshi will be part of the T20I squad, though his opportunity may still depend on the team’s opening pair’s consistency.

Up nextCricket· 11h ago

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi needs to wait, we have two fantastic consistent openers: Shreyas Iyer