NEW DELHI: South African batting legend AB de Villiers has endorsed India's decision to call up teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for his first international assignment, lauding the selectors for making what he termed as both 'the right call' and a 'brave decision'.
The 15-year-old created history on Saturday by being named in India's squads for the tours of Ireland and England, as well as the Asian Games, becoming the youngest player ever selected for the national side, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's record set in 1989.
De Villiers Praises Selectors' Courage
Speaking at an event in Mumbai, de Villiers commended the selectors for resisting the easy option of choosing experienced players over youth. 'It's definitely the right call from the selectors. So well done to them for making the brave decision. It would have been easy to say that he's still too young and he's not ready, and go for more experience. He's broken down that door, and he deserves his place in the Indian T20 team, so I'm happy for him,' said the former South African captain.
Confidence in Talent Across Formats
While de Villiers refrained from making definitive predictions about Sooryavanshi's future in red-ball cricket, he expressed strong confidence in the youngster's ability to succeed across formats if he chooses that path. 'Yeah, he's a wonderful talent. The red-ball thing I absolutely cannot answer. I think he can if he wants to, but there's your answer, and there's the big question as well is does he really want to? Time will tell. There's no doubt he's got the talent and the ability to do so. It won't always be easy, and I've mentioned that a few times before,' de Villiers said.
The batting great acknowledged that Test cricket would present a different set of challenges, but backed the Bihar-born prodigy to overcome them. 'If he decides to play red-ball cricket, there will be some challenges, but he's got the skill and the ability to work through that and in my opinion, I hope he does try and play Test cricket, but I doubt it. We'll see in future,' he added.
Extraordinary Rise of Sooryavanshi
Sooryavanshi's rise has been nothing short of extraordinary. The Rajasthan Royals opener dominated IPL 2026 with 776 runs at a staggering strike rate of 237.30 and smashed a record 72 sixes.
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