Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers has urged India’s teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi not to limit himself to T20 cricket despite his explosive rise in the format. The 15-year-old has emerged as one of the standout players of the ongoing Indian Premier League season with fearless strokeplay and remarkable consistency against some of the world’s best bowlers.
The debate around Sooryavanshi’s future has intensified as his T20 exploits fuel calls for an early India debut, even though his red-ball numbers remain modest.
Speaking on the ‘For The Love of Cricket’ podcast hosted by England pace legend Stuart Broad, De Villiers acknowledged the teenager’s extraordinary talent but highlighted the challenges that lie ahead.
“I do not know how he is going to last, to be honest. At his age, the talent is incredible. But I would like to see him in other formats. In Test cricket, he doesn’t yet know what he is in for. A lot of things will change unless someone, who is a really good manager, tells him to be a T20 specialist for the rest of his life. If that’s all he plays, it’ll be a very long and successful career,” he said.
De Villiers further stressed the importance of red-ball and ODI cricket in shaping Sooryavanshi’s mental and physical attributes.
“If he does start nibbling around with ODIs and, in particular, Test cricket, he will discover a whole different area of his cricket mentally and physically. He definitely has the talent to overcome all the obstacles that may come his way. But it will not be an easy ride, and it will be a rocky road. I hope he goes that route and tries to play Test cricket for his country,” he said.
Sooryavanshi’s dominance is not limited to the IPL. In the U-19 World Cup earlier this year, he finished as the second-highest run-getter with 439 runs in seven matches at an average of 62.71 and a strike rate of 169.49, including a century and three fifties, with a best of 175. He also smashed a record 30 sixes in the tournament, surpassing Dewald Brevis’ tally of 18 in 2022, and now holds the record for most sixes in U-19 World Cup history.
