Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has advised Vaibhav Sooryavanshi not to play like him. Srikkanth expressed his disappointment after Sooryavanshi was dismissed after scoring 15 runs off nine balls in the Asian Games final against Pakistan on Saturday.
Sooryavanshi was caught behind by Pakistan wicket-keeper Usman Khan when he was trying to play a reverse sweep against Saim Ayub. The left-hander could only manage an outside edge to the keeper.
Sooryavanshi was dismissed after scoring 38 runs off 21 balls in the semifinal clash against Sri Lanka.
Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “It wasn’t Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s shot at all; why play it? I don’t know why Vaibhav was in a hurry. He had already hit two sixes. He should have waited and taken his time. Don’t play like me; you are a big player and someone who’s going to become a legend of legends.”
On the other hand, the 1983 World Cup winning player praised Abhishek Sharma for scoring 61 runs off 28 balls in the high-octane clash.
“Abhishek Sharma adjusted superbly to a slow turning wicket. Because of that, he played on the back foot and never committed on the front foot. Whereas Vaibhav Suryavanshi was committed to the front foot. Abhishek has the big-match temperament, as he played a similar knock against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final.”
Srikkanth added that Tilak Varma played a superb blinder at the end after he scored 51 runs off just 22 balls to help India post 211 runs on the board.
“Tilak Varma played a superb blinder at the end. The small partnerships for each wicket mattered a lot. But Tilak played a defining innings, and he seems to be a very dangerous player at the end of an innings. I rate his knock very highly because it wasn’t an easy wicket to bat on,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
India eventually registered a 19-run win to defend their Asian Games gold in men’s cricket.
