Former England fast bowler Steve Finn has expressed his wish to see Vaibhav Suryavanshi in Indian jersey for the upcoming UK tour. India will take on Ireland in two T20Is whereas the Men in Blue will face England in five T20Is.
Vaibhav scored 96 runs off 47 balls against Gujarat Titans in the second qualifier at New Chandigarh on a tricky pitch, which had assistance for the fast bowlers, especially in the first innings.
The prodigy batter ended the IPL 2026 season with 776 runs in 16 matches at an average of 48.50 and a blistering strike rate of 237.30. He ended as the leading run-getter in the tournament and thus bagged the Orange Cap. Along with it, he was awarded the MVP of the tournament, Super Striker of the Season, Emerging Player of the season, and also bagged the award for the most sixes (72) in the season.
Finn said on For the Love of Cricket YouTube Channel, “I would love to see him in an Indian shirt in the UK summer. The problem is India is the world champions, and it’ll be an incredibly tough call on those opening the batting now. Yet, whoever he replaces, he would make the team better.”
“The question entering this season was if he could do it again and be consistent. The most staggering thing is that he struck at 236 across 700+ runs against the best bowlers in the world. To sustain that for a full season as a 15-year-old is mind-blowing. He was the story of this IPL. And people say the yorker is his lone weakness. But that’s so tough to execute with the new ball that if that’s your only weakness, you would almost take that.”
The former lanky pacer jokingly said Suryavanshi should have stayed at the stage as he received multiple awards for his thundering performance.
“He stole the show this IPL. He might as well have stayed put on the stage, as he must have gotten nine awards. He even got a car, and he’s 15. So I am not sure if he’s even allowed to drive. I can’t imagine he’ll be struggling to buy a car or be given a car in the next three years. It’ll be interesting to see what he does with that,” said Finn (via the aforementioned source).
It would be interesting to note if the selectors would pick Vaibhav Suryavanshi in India’s T20I team.
