‘What wrong did Vaibhav Suryavanshi do?’: World Cup winner criticizes Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir | Cricket News

Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer (BCCI photo) NEW DELHI: Former India captain Chris Srikkanth has slammed the Indian team management for the way 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi was treated during the T20I tours of Ireland and England.Sooryavanshi did not play a single game in the series for Ireland and was later included in the playing squad against England after Sanju Samson struggled for runs. However, after three matches, the teenager was back in the fifth and final T20I. India lost the five-match series 0–4. Srikkanth said he was particularly unhappy with captain Shreyas Iyer’s explanation of the change in toss ahead of the final T20I.During the draw, Iyer defended the decision, saying: “I feel now is the time to try what is best for us as a team. Therefore, based on this, we made this decision.”Srikkanth did not like this remark.“I was so upset about the interview after the draw,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.He questioned the team’s approach to young players and said the same standards should be applied to everyone in the squad.“That’s not the way to talk. How you treat your players, how you build a young team is important. If that’s the way forward, then the way forward is to change everyone (the management team). He said we want to move forward in the best possible way. If you are willing to rule out players on the basis of their performances, the same criterion should be applied to Gautam Gambhir, the same criterion should be applied to the captain. You say the players are not performing, what was your performance?”Sooryavanshi was promoted to the team after Sanju Samson, the player of the tournament in this year’s T20 World Cup, failed to score in three consecutive innings. The teenager scored 14 points in Manchester, 13 in Nottingham and 15 in Bristol before being eliminated in the final match.Srikkanth wondered what the boy had done wrong.“What wrong did Vaibhav Suryavanshi do? Is this how you develop young players?”The former India international compared the situation to his own experience as captain when he handed a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar his international debut during the 1989 tour of Pakistan.He said supporting a young player is crucial to building confidence.“Shreyas Iyer said at the toss: “We want to get back to the best possible path.” Is this your best path forward? What kind of interview is this? If you think Sanju Samson is the best fit, then you should go ahead with him. Why invite Vaibhav and then dump him? fearlessly.”Srikkanth said the current management should have shown the same faith in Suryavanshi and not dumped him after just three matches.“Shouldn’t Gambhir and Shreyas give such trust to Suryavanshi? It’s not fair. I am very upset with the way they are treating Vaibhav Suryavanshi,” he said.