Vaibhav Sooryavanshi advised to ‘emulate’ Sachin Tendulkar as comparisons with Master Blaster rage on: ‘Mentally mature’

The world was waiting to see Sooryavanshi make his debut on Friday against Ireland in Belfast, but it wasn't to be, as head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shreyas Iyer went with the T20 World Cup-winning opening duo of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson.

Ever since Sooryavanshi's blitz in the IPL, the comparisons between him and Sachin have raged on, and fans believe that the left-handed batter can set the international cricket stage on fire just like Sachin did for more than two decades. Amid the growing clamour for Sooryavanshi, Vengsarkar nudged the youngster to take a leaf out of Sachin's book.

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"When I watched Sachin Tendulkar play, he looked mentally mature for his age. He did extremely well in inter-school tournaments in Mumbai, besides club cricket, where he scored consistently," Vengsarkar told news agency PTI.

“He was mentally prepared to play a higher level of cricket, so that is how we picked him. He was so disciplined, passionate, and focused, and that is a great example for youngsters like Vaibhav to emulate,” he added.

"I am sure he will get the opportunity, and once he gets it, he will grab it with both hands because he is a very good player. He is just unbelievable," Vengsarkar said.

“He has tremendous potential. Some of the shots he plays are unreal. His batsmanship is completely different. He can clear the ground with his bat swing and hand-eye coordination. In T20 format, he has been amazing,” he added.

However, Vengsarkar did not give a definitive answer when he was asked whether he sees enough in Sooryavanshi to predict a solid future for him in Test cricket.

“It's very difficult to say because he is currently in the T20 format. I have not seen him play in a longer format,” he said.

“But I'm sure he will do well in that, once picked. We will have to wait and see how he plays in the longer format, which is very important,” Vengsarkar added.

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