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Ajit Agarkar told to 'blood Vaibhav Suryavanshi immediately' into the senior team: 'Sachin Tendulkar was all...'
Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkas has been advised to bring Vaibhav Suryavanshi into the senior team as he has the ability to do something special.
Zubin Barucha, the Rajasthan Royals' Director of High Performance, has asked chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar to think about Vaibhav Suryavanshi when it comes to selection for the senior team, saying the left-handed batter from Bihar can do something special for the country. He gave the example of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and how he was identified pretty early on by the selectors.
The Master made his debut against Pakistan at the age of 16in 1989. Suryavanshi, who is currently 14, is yet to get a nod for the India A side as he has been currently playing for the U19 team and has already travelled to England and Australia.
Ever since making his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for the Royals earlier this year, the 14-year-old Suryavanshi has become a household name. He smashed the fastest-ever century by an Indian in the history of the tournament, going past the three-figure mark off just 35 balls against Shubman Gill's Gujarat Titans.
He then smoked the fastest-ever century in youth ODIs against England at Worcester earlier this year. It is worth mentioning that he made his first-class debut at the age of 12, and he came to the limelight after scoring a century against Australia U-19 in a Youth Test. This led to him bagging an IPL contract for INR 1.10 crore with the Royals.
Also Read: Vaibhav Suryavanshi scores blistering century in first red ball match on Australian soil, hammers 8 sixes: Watch
"He should be blooded into the senior team immediately, like Sachin was all those years ago," Bharucha told Times of India.
"They have to blood this guy immediately, boss, because he is in another zone only. At least send him on an India A tour. Send him to India A immediately. I'm telling you, this Australian attack that is here, bowling to India A guys, he would have got a double hundred," he added.
Suryavanshi shows no respect to Jofra Archer
Bharucha also recalled how England pacer Jofra Archer was left rattled when he first bowled to Suryavanshi in the nets during the IPL 2025 season. He stated that the left-hander showed no signs of being at sea as he played against the fast bowler confidently.
"He smoked Jofra Archer in the nets. Jofra Archer, when he bowls in the nets, he's a demon. He never bowls a warm-up ball when the batter is there. He absolutely charges in. And actually, Jofra Archer knocked off Steve Smith's head in a practice session we had before the Ashes. Smith was struggling against him. From that day onwards, he never went inside the net when Jofra was bowling," said Bharucha.
"When he was bowling to Vaibhav, I was scared, and this boy hit one shot on the back foot, and it went out of the stadium. All the coaching staff, even Jofra, were stunned," he added.
