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Captain of Zimbabwe Sikandar Raza backed teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to emerge as a “generational talent”, encouraging people not to judge the 15-year-old after a rocky start to his international career. Sooryavanshi endured a challenging debut T20I series in England, scoring 14, 13 and 15 hat-tricks in the appearance as India went down 0-4. The young opener also struggled against Jofra Archer‘s short ball, fell twice to England during the series. Despite his modest returns, Raza believes the youngster has the ability to become one of the game’s brightest stars if his development is carefully managed. “Vaibhav is a supremely talented cricketer. If a 15-year-old kid is playing international cricket, criticizing him after just two or three matches is not justified,” Raza said on JioStar. “I think Vaibhav has a lot of good senior cricketers around him. If he is managed well, I think Vaibhav could be a generational talent.” The Indian opener now returns to Harare, a place that holds a special memory for him after his remarkable 175 off 80 balls against England in the U-19 World Cup final in January helped India lift the title. WITH Sanju Samson unavailable for the tour of Zimbabwe, Sooryavanshi is expected to get another shot at the top of the order when the three-match T20I series begins on Thursday. Raza said the teenager’s rise through the ranks at such a young age was already a remarkable achievement and stressed the importance of nurturing his talent. “To see what he has done over the last year, what he has done for India under-19, and the fact that he made his international debut at the same age, these are no small feats. “You don’t hear such stories today. Vaibhav is special. How he is managed and treated will matter,” he added. Looking ahead to the series, Raza dismissed suggestions that India will start as overwhelming favorites despite Zimbabwe facing the reigning T20 world champions. “Both countries will have an equal chance in this series. But one thing I am very sure of is that since Zimbabwe is playing very consistent and very entertaining cricket, I can confidently say that this series will be very entertaining,” Raza told Star Sports. Zimbabwe head into the competition with confidence after a string of impressive results, including a memorable 23-run win over Australia at the ICC T20 World Cup in Colombo in February, a result that played a key role in Australia’s surprise exit from the group stage. This year they also recorded victories over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “Win or lose, both countries have equal chances to win the series,” said Raza, who has represented Zimbabwe in 136 T20Is. The experienced all-rounder acknowledged India’s fearless approach to batting, saying he can overpower the opposition or leave the door open if things don’t go according to plan. “As far as their batting line-up, if a day happens, they’ll take you out. But in high-risk cricket, sometimes that doesn’t happen, and when it does, and the total isn’t that big, the other team has a chance.” Raza also pointed out that both teams are currently in transition, which makes the competition more even than many expect. “Yes, India is going through a transition and to some extent you will see Zimbabwe also going through a bit of a transition. I don’t see it as a one-sided series,” he said. He also praised the long-standing relationship between the two cricketing nations and the value of facing one of the world’s leading teams. “India has been a great friend to Zimbabwean cricket. From the players’ point of view, it’s about the growth of the players and the exposure they get playing against the world champions, like India.” The two remaining matches of the series will also be played in Harare on July 25 and 26.
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