Former India captain Kris Srikkanth slammed Shreyas Iyer for his remarks over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at the toss of the India vs England 5th T20I match in Southampton. The Iyer-led team dropped the 15-year-old batter for the match, citing that it was best for the team going forward.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his Team India debut in the T20I format against England during the recently concluded 5-match T20I series, replacing Sanju Samson. As Vaibhav also failed to fire at the top of the batting order, the team management went back to Sanju again.
Kris Srikkanth raises concerns on the Indian team management’s approach to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Kris Srikkanth lost his cool over how Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had been treated during the T20I series against Ireland and England subsequently. The teenage sensation made his T20I debut during the second match of the series in Manchester, in place of the off-color opener Sanju Samson.
Vaibhav got to play only three matches for the team before being dropped from the playing combination as he failed to replicate his IPL 2026 form. In three matches, the left-hander was not able to touch the 20-run mark at least in any match.
Shreyas Iyer explained why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dropped from the playing XI
Dropping a phenomenal talent like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was a huge decision made by the Indian team management. For obvious reasons, after the toss of the 5th match of the five-match series, Shreyas Iyer was asked the reason for snubbing the young batter from the playing eleven.
In reply, Shreyas Iyer, the captain of the team, mentioned that they preferred to drop Vaibhav to bring back Sanju Samson in the opening position again, as it looked best for the team, keeping an eye on the future.
“I feel this is the time we need to try what’s best going forward for us as a team. So based on that, we decided this,” Shreyas said to the broadcaster after the toss.
Why is Gautam Gambhir still the Team India head coach? Kris Srikkanth raises the question
Kris Srikkanth did not align well with the comments made by Shreyas Iyer, as it could have a negative effect on the emerging opener’s mind and form. The former India captain said that if the team wanted to do the best, why did they not opt to move on from the head coach, Gautam Gambhir?
“I was so upset with the interview after the toss. This is not the way to talk. How you treat your players and how you form a young team are important. If this is the way forward, the way forward is to change everybody (the leadership group). He said We want to take the best way forward,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
“If you are willing to drop players based on their performance, the same yardstick should apply to Gautam Gambhir; the same yardstick should apply to the captain as well. You are saying the players are not performing. What has been your performance? What wrong did Vaibhav Sooryavanshi do? Is this how you groom young players?” He raised the questions in the same video.