No Sooryavanshi, no match: Indian fans furious after prodigy snubbed again
Indian cricket fans were left fuming as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was once again snubbed from the playing XI for the 2nd T20I between Afghanistan and India. India made just one change to the side with Ravi Bishnoi coming in for the injured Varun Chakravarthy.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has wasted little time making an impact at the international level, maintaining a remarkable strike rate of 189.21 across his first six T20I innings. The 15-year-old also arrives in the Afghanistan series with plenty of momentum from the Zimbabwe tour. Sooryavanshi was named Player of the Series after scoring 151 runs at a staggering strike rate of 196.10, while he also claimed the Player of the Match award in the series finale.
Sooryavanshi was seen taking part in fielding drills, which gave hope to the fans who flocked to the Arun Jaitley stadium in the hope of seeing the youngster play.
Despite this, Sanju Samson was picked for the first T20I and he failed to make the most of his chance being dismissed for 10. It was interesting to see if India would put the 15-year-old back into the mix, but they decided to resist the temptation.
But this didn't sit well with the Indian fans, who vented their frustration out on social media. Many of the supporters said that they aren't watching the match as Sooryavanshi isn't playing. Some even called for the match to be boycotted. Others were critical of Gautam Gambhir for not giving the youngster enough chances in the playing XI, especially since he was in good form. IS INDIA MISTREATING SOORYAVANSHI?
Former India selector Kris Srikkanth revealed the impact Sooryavanshi has had on him and his wife. Srikkanth said that they switched channels the moment it was known that the youngster wasn't playing.
"The moment Sooryavanshi wasn't playing, we started watching something else. Even my wife asked me, 'Sooryavanshi isn't playing? What is this?'"
"She gets angry. She is asking how a player who was Man of the Match and Man of the Series in the previous series cannot play the next match," said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel after 1st T20I.
Srikkanth said that Sooryavanshi's treatment from the Indian team management hasn't been great and they are not give him good signals at the moment.
"The point is, you are not treating Sooryavanshi properly either. If you give him a chance in the next match, he will be thinking, 'If I don't score now, will they drop me for the next match?' That is the problem. There are no clear signals," said Srikkanth.
It will be interesting to see if India will give Sooryavanshi the chance to play in the final T20I.- EndsPublished By: alan johnPublished On: Sep 15, 2026 19:49 IST
