Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim believes it is premature to see 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as a replacement for Sanju Samson in the Indian T20I team. He backed Samson’s recent performances and said the youngster should be allowed to develop without comparison.Sooryavanshi traveled with the Indian team for the T20I series against Ireland and England but is yet to make his international debut. India instead continued to back the top trio of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, all of whom played important roles in India’s 2026 T20 World Cup triumph.Asked if Sooryavanshi could replace Samson in the playing XI, Karim dismissed the suggestion.“I don’t think so at this stage. Sanju Samson is a fantastic player. He was the match winner. He had a very good IPL season. Before that he was the player of the tournament in the T20 World Cup. What are we watching? Sanju Samson would think, ‘Why is everyone pointing a gun at me?'” Karim told Star Sports, as quoted by News18.Karim also said that staying in the Indian team without getting a game right away could benefit Sooryavanshi.“Even for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, this is a good learning curve. He also needs to understand this to get into this Indian teamSooryavanshi was one of the most talked about young players after IPL 2026, where he scored 776 runs for Rajasthan Royals at a strike rate of 237.30 and was named player of the tournament.India did not give him a debut during the series against Ireland, where they suffered a 2-0 defeat.Despite this, Karim believes that the time of teenagers will come.“I have full faith in his ability to score big. Not just Indian fans, but the whole world is waiting to see Vaibhav Sooryavanshi play the way he played in the IPL. I have high hopes for this young lad. Very soon, we will see him in all three formats. I am dead sure of it,” Karim said on JioStar, as quoted by news agency IANS.India and England will play the second T20I on Saturday.
