zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza has backed teenage star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as a “generational talent” and urged people not to judge the 15-year-old after a difficult start to his international career. Sooryavanshi performed well on his debut in the T20I series in England, scoring 14, 13 and 15 runs in the three games as India trailed 0-4. Young opener also struggled Jofra ArcherThe short ball was bowled twice by the England pacers in the series. Despite the modest returns, Raza believes the youngster has the ability to become one of the game’s brightest stars if his development is carefully managed. “Vaibav is a talented cricketer. If a 15-year-old is playing international cricket, it is unreasonable to criticize him after two or three games,” Raza said on JioStar. “I think Vaibhav has a lot of very good senior cricketers around him. If he manages it well, I think Vaibhav could become a generational talent.” India’s opener now returns to Harare, a place that holds special memories for him as he scored 80-ball 175 against England in the Under-19 World Cup final in January, helping India win the title. and Sanzhou Samson Sooryavanshi, who is unavailable for the tour of Zimbabwe, is expected to get another chance at No. 1 when the three-match T20I series begins on Thursday. Raza said it was a remarkable achievement for the teenager to be promoted at such a young age and stressed the importance of nurturing his talent. “Looking at what he has done in the past year, what he has done for the India U-19s and the fact that he made his international debut at the same age, these are no small feats by any means. “You don’t hear stories like this these days. Vaibhav is special. How he is managed and handled will be important,” he added. Looking ahead to the series, Raza rejected suggestions that India will start as overwhelming favorites even though Zimbabwe will face the reigning T20 world champions. “Both countries will have equal chances in this series. But one thing I am very sure of is that because Zimbabwe has been playing very consistent and very entertaining cricket, I can definitely say that this series will be very interesting,” Raza told Star Sports. Zimbabwe enter the tournament full of confidence after a string of impressive results, including a memorable 23-match win over Australia at the ICC T20 World Cup in Colombo in February, a result that played a key role in Australia’s surprise group stage exit. They also had wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh this year. “In terms of wins and losses, both countries have an equal chance of winning the series,” said Raza, who has played 136 T20I matches for Zimbabwe. The veteran all-rounder acknowledged India’s fearless approach to batting and said it can either overwhelm the opposition or leave the door wide open if things don’t go according to plan. “In terms of their batting line-up, if the batting comes through on the day, they will knock you out of the game. But with high-stakes cricket, sometimes the batting doesn’t come through and when that happens and the total isn’t that big, the other team does have a chance.” Raza also noted that both teams are currently in a transitional period, making the game more even than many expected. “Yes, India is going through a transformation and to some extent you will see some transformation happening in Zimbabwe as well. I don’t think this is a one-sided series,” he said. He also praised the long-standing relationship between the two cricketing nations and the value of facing one of the world’s leading teams. “India has been a great friend to Zimbabwean cricket. From a player’s perspective, it’s about the growth of the players and the exposure they get from playing against the world champions, just like India.” The remaining two games of the series will also be played in Harare on July 25 and 26.
