New Zealand head coach Rob Walter is keen to see how 15-year-old Indian opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi handles pace and bounce when India face New Zealand in the upcoming five-match T20I series. The series is scheduled to begin on October 22, 2026, and will provide Sooryavanshi with a potential opportunity to experience conditions that are different from those in India. Walter believes testing the teenager against New Zealand’s faster and more bouncy surfaces could offer an interesting challenge.
“Yes, I’d love to see him on some pace in bouncy wickets and see how different that looks. But he’s an exciting player. You’ve seen him dominate against the world’s best bowlers in the IPL. I think the challenge is always to see how that translates to different conditions and also how do we bowl to him in our conditions,” Rob Walter was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Sooryavanshi, born on March 27, 2011, made his T20I debut against England in July 2026. He subsequently became the youngest player to score a half-century in men’s T20I cricket during India’s series against Zimbabwe.
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The teenager has attracted significant attention following his explosive performances in the IPL and at the Under-19 level. His aggressive batting style has made him one of the most closely watched young players in Indian cricket. Walter also admitted that coaches enjoy seeing how young players respond when placed under pressure, although he acknowledged that Sooryavanshi may not necessarily feature in India’s final XI.
“Again, secretly as a coach, you always want to see your players under a little bit of pressure and how we respond to that. So looking forward to it, if that is the case. If he’s not here, they do have a lot of very good players other than him,” he added.
Sooryavanshi was part of India’s squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan and the one-off T20I against Japan in September, but he did not get an opportunity to play.
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New Zealand’s home conditions could provide a different test for the youngster, with pitches generally offering greater pace and bounce than the surfaces he has mostly encountered in India. The series will also mark New Zealand’s first T20I assignment since the T20 World Cup final, where they lost to India in Ahmedabad. However, Walter said the defeat is not driving the team’s preparations.
The New Zealand coach also briefly addressed the controversial wide call during India’s T20I against Japan, admitting he had watched very little of the match. “I saw there was some controversy around the wide ruling. But no, I didn’t watch a hell of a lot of it, to be fair. The lesser the better, I think,” Walter said.
