Former India fielding coach R Sridhar called for a dedicated plan to help Vaibhav Suryavanshi with his fielding as he entered international cricket after having spent most of the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaigns as an impact player. He has taken four catches in T20Is so far, while also showcasing some of his fielding ability for India ‘A’ and East Zone as well.

“He’s 15. So, you’re still a kid, right? So, someone there has to really run his program, a really honest program, I feel. I mean, although he’s in an international elite environment where athletes are aware of what they need to do, and how they need to manage their workloads,” R Sridhar said in a select media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network.

“But someone as young as 15 sometimes needs to be told. So, I think someone there has to make a schedule for Vaibhav Suryavanshi, where he has to deal with a lot in practice and make himself ready to field in the match as well, because at 15, if you are being subbed out, it’s not a great sign,” he further added.

R Sridhar also feels that the aim should be to transform Vaibhav Suryavanshi into a top fielder in three to four years, by the time he could be an established international cricketer as well.

“So obviously, I think by 18 or 19, you would want Vaibhav to evolve as a very, very good fielder. We saw that he had a near mishap in that Asian Games 2026 Final. That was a near mishap, which could have really caused an injury, so these are the things that need to be addressed,” R Sridhar said.

“Somebody has to take Vaibhav and ensure that he’s practicing fielding every day. He can bowl a bit of left arm spin, but we’ll save that for later. But now it is very clear from my part that he has to work very hard on his fielding, and someone has to tell that to him,” he concluded.