Vaibhav Sooryavanshi led to fight for India's Test match place ahead of his performance

The 15-year-old wonder teen has been an outstanding performer of the IPL 2026 season with scoring a total of 776 runs. He bagged a total of five awards, including the Orange Cap and the Most Valuable Player. He also set record-breaking marks as the youngest player to overcome a margin of 1000 runs in the tournament and also hitting most sixes in a single edition of the IPL.

The left-hander's performance for the RR in this season of IPL has led him to get called for getting included in the Indian T20I team for the upcoming matches against Ireland and England.

Manjrekar suggests Vaibhav's international experience

The former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar counts on Sooryavanshi's performance to be a good idea for his inclusion for the national selection in the upcoming T20I tours by BCCI. It would also help the youngster to excel in all sorts of conditions to play matches.

Speaking to Sportstar's 'Insight Edge' Podcast, Manjrekar said, “Vaibhav would be the next in line after the incumbents, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. But I'd like to see Vaibhav play in similar batting conditions to those in the IPL, if they pick him for India at all. Won't be a great idea to put him straight into, you know, foreign, kind of, on a foreign pitch, like New Zealand, South Africa, we'll see."

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“He might go out there and repeat what he's done in the IPL. But, yeah, it's a tough one when you look at the contenders. Whether Gill is in front or Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, it's a tough call. So, let it happen organically and see how it goes,” he added.

Meanwhile Sooryavanshi is already been selected for India A in the upcoming tri-series against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A, beginning from June 9, but his selection for Ireland tour is still in suspension.

The difficult prediction

In IPL 2026, Sooryavanshi finished with a strike rate of more than 200 and also scored above 90 runs. He scored 97 and 96 in the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 against SRH and RR, respectively.

Tracking his performance and growth in the season, Manjrekar find out to be difficult to predict for Vaibhav's selection in the international tours with senior team.

Manjrekar said, “When I go and meet people on the cricket ground, the first question they ask is, 'How good is he? Obviously, he's taken the T20 or the IPL by storm. And now, because we have the same people like Dhoni nd some of the others, a lot of people think that he's carried the IPL in the last, second half by his performances."

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“For me, my problem with predicting the future of a certain player is that you see the potential. It's like when you have a fast bowler on a green top. Ideally, bowling conditions come and take a five-wicket home. And then the hard man to please will always say, it remains to be seen how he bowls on a flat page or with the old ball. So, what we have to really take and what I will take from his performances is phenomenal for somebody who's fairly young, and he's got some hitting talent. He's got some great ballset. He also has the range,” he added.

Manjrekar hands Vaibhav's Test selection upon BCCI

The former Indian batter also states to let Sooryavanshi pave his way ahead, rather involving in Tests for now.

Manjrekar said, “A lot of people are saying how we should handle him? And how will he fare in red-ball cricket? I don't think it's our job to handle. It isn't even the BCCI's job. He is an individual. And I'm sure there are people around him who would like him to play with his coaches. It's about what he sets out to do in life. If he wants to just be a T20 sensation and focus on T20 cricket, so be it. And that shouldn't be held against him. But then you'll be judged only as a T20 phenomenal player. He plays 50-over cricket. And I think there's great value in certain conditions for him to bat in the first 10 overs and do what Rohit Sharma did in the 2023 World Cup. Even better than Rohit."

“It really should be about him deciding what he wants to be in life. Because if he wants to play red ball cricket, it's a little unfair that he gets picked on for these performances when there could be certain deserving players who have done the hard yards in that Bihar Ranji Trophy team. Let's not complicate things for him. Let him decide. If he wants to aspire to play in the Ranji Trophy cricket, he's got to fight for his place in that side. And let the state selectors decide whether he's going to be adding value or whether he's going to be a good enough player. But it's really about what he wants to do,” he concluded.