Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Former West Indies all-rounder Carlos Braithwaite has said Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s India debut should not be rushed, even as the youngster’s strong IPL 2026 season has led to growing calls for his promotion to the senior side. Sooryavanshi underlined his form again with a 36-ball hundred against SRH on Saturday, 26 April.
RR vs SRH, IPL 2026: Highlights | Scorecard
Braithwaite said India would be better served by taking a cautious approach with the batter and pointed to the way West Indies managed Brian Lara in his early years. He said Lara, widely seen as a generational talent, spent time around senior players before making his international debut, and suggested Sooryavanshi could benefit from a similar pathway.
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“I apologise, Vaibhav, but if you look at how West Indies handled Brian Lara… he was a generational talent, everyone knew,” Braithwaite said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show.
“So what did West Indies do? They put him in the mix with Viv Richards and what not, but he didn’t play [international cricket]. That was a different time with loads of tour games, and he cut his teeth with the senior players without having made his debut. And then we know how his career went once he debuted.”
Braithwaite said Sooryavanshi should be kept close to the senior Indian side and allowed to learn from players such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, as well as younger players closer to his age, before being pushed into international cricket.
“So maybe there is the best of both worlds – where you can have him with the Indian team – learn from Virat [Kohli], learn from Rohit [Sharma], learn from Suryakumar Yadav. There are younger players that are close to him in age that he can learn from, before just throwing him in the deep end,” he said.
SOORYAVANSHI’S IPL 2026 SO FAR
Sooryavanshi has been among the leading run-scorers in IPL 2026, competing with Abhishek Sharma, KL Rahul and Kohli for the Orange Cap. He has scored 357 runs in eight matches at a strike-rate of 234.87 and an average of 44.63. He has also taken apart bowlers such as Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood and has been central to RR’s wins this season.
RR will next face unbeaten PBKS in Mullanpur on Tuesday, 28 April, with attention set to remain on Sooryavanshi’s form as the debate over his India debut continues.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
