Why is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi still not playing for India?

Former India selector Kris Srikkanth has questioned the decision to leave out 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from India's playing XI for the second consecutive T20I against Afghanistan. Sooryavanshi was named Player of the Series against Zimbabwe after scoring 151 runs at a strike rate of 196.10, yet he remains on the bench as Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma open the innings. Srikkanth said even his wife questioned the exclusion after watching the first match.

Srikkanth criticized the team management for not treating Sooryavanshi properly and warned that repeatedly changing the opening combination could leave players unsure about their positions. He said the current approach of giving both Samson and Sooryavanshi two matches here and there is not good for either player. Samson scored 10 runs in the first T20I before making 57 off 22 balls in the second match.

India have made just one change to their playing XI for the second T20I, with Ravi Bishnoi coming in for the injured Varun Chakravarthy. Sooryavanshi was seen taking part in fielding drills before the match but was not selected despite his recent form.