'That's An Irony': Captain Shreyas Iyer Highlights Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's Contrasting Sides On And Off The Field

Shreyas Iyer, India's T20 captain, opened up about his relationship with 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi while talking to JioStar on Sunday, October 4, ahead of the five-match series against the West Indies.

Fresh from clinching gold at the Asian Games, India's T20 captain Shreyas said that everyone knows about Vaibhav's cricketing talent, so he tries to get to know him as a person.

"I keep interacting with Vaibhav in terms of what he does outside the field, because everyone talks to him about cricket, and we know how talented and gifted as an individual he is.

"So, just to talk about his lifestyle outside, that interaction, knowing about his family, what he does, whatnot, that excites him more because he’s more of himself when he talks about it."

Speaking of Vaibhav's personality, he said, "...and a very silent guy, but on the field, is very destructive. So, that’s like an irony when you look at him. He’s a very charming, sweet guy to interact with and good to have him around the dressing room."

'Vaibhav Will Dominate Indian Cricket'

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the youngest Indian debutant earlier this year after a breakthrough IPL, where he scored 776 runs with an amazing strike rate of over 200.

However, he is yet to get a full run in the national side, as the team already have Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma — a World Cup-winning opening combination — at the top.

Shreyas also opened up about Vaibhav's future given the limited chances he is getting at the international level.

"And I know that his time will come, because we have been playing with World Cup-winning openers right now, and they deserve the time out there and he’s still in the 15. So definitely, when his time comes, he is going to dominate Indian cricket," he added.

India vs West Indies T20I Series

The T20I series between India and the West Indies will start on October 6, with the first match being hosted in Lucknow.

The West Indies will look to avenge their defeat against India after losing the ODI series 2–1. West Indies' only win in the series came in the last match on Saturday (October 3rd) in New Chandigarh after Shai Hope scored an unbeaten century to defeat India.