NEW DELHI: Guardian ship of India Ishan Kishan backed teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying the 15-year-old has all the qualities to become a match-winner for the national team.Kishan’s comments came after India’s 90-run win over Zimbabwe in the second T20I in Harare on Saturday. India were in early trouble after the loss Abhishek Sharma (8) and Sooryavanshi (20) in the first three overs, slipping to 29/2. Kishan then played a brilliant knock of 81 off 44 balls to guide India to 219/5. Zimbabwe were then bowled out for 129 as India sealed the three-match series 2-0 with a game to spare.Kishan said senior team members are helping Sooryavanshi establish himself in international cricket and encouraging him to ignore distractions outside the game.
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“Vaibhav is really very smart. He knows what he’s doing,” Kishan said after India’s win.“He knows how to fight and how to carry himself on and off the field.”The wicketkeeper-batsman revealed that he, Abhishek Sharma, captain Axar Patel and other experienced players regularly talk to the youngster to make sure he stays focused.“When you represent India, you have to know who to focus on,” he said.“I, Abhishek, Axar bhai and many others keep telling him to think about cricket, not social media or outside noise.”Kishan said the team wants Sooryavanshi to learn from the experiences of senior players and avoid getting distracted early in his career.“When you have a player like that and you know he’s very young, you never want him to be distracted for the wrong reasons.“So our work as a team, we are like brothers and it comes from my place, so we just have to be happy, focus on the important things. The mistakes we made in our beginning, we should not do. He should enjoy his cricket, as he is doing now.”Kishan believes that Sooryavanshi’s attacking style can have a bigger impact on India’s performances.“If he stays on the field, the difference he can create for the team is huge. A player who can attack from the first ball can take 80-90 runs in the powerplay,” he said.