BCCI fast-tracks Vaibhav Suryavanshi in special programme as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma ODI exit chatter grows

14 year old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has had a dream start to this cricketing career with some record breaking perfomances in the IPL, followed by a stellar U-19 tour of England. However, that might not be all if a new report is to be believed, Suryavanshi is on BCCI’s radar and the Indian board is looking at the young batter to fill the void left by the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

As per the MyKhel report, Suryavanshi will undergo a special training programme designed by the BCCI which will focus on technical drills and match specific scenarios.

Suryavanshi’s childhood coach Manish Ojha while talking to the publication about BCCI’s plans said, “BCCI is looking ahead. The senior players are gradually retiring, and to fill that vacuum, the next batch of youngsters must be fully ready. This training for Vaibhav is part of that process. We pick boys one by one and prepare them accordingly for the demands of international cricket,” he said.

After returning from his England duties, Suryavanshi had attended a special training session with the Rajasthan Royals and then received a call from the BCCI that landed him at the National Cricket Academy on 10 August.

The left handed batter is expected to stay only a week at the NCA before joining the U-19 side for the next assignment. Ojha said that the 14 year old now wants to work on bringing consistency to his long format scores.

“He has the ability to attack from the very first ball, which is a huge positive in T20s and one-dayers. You’ve seen it in the IPL, U-19, and Vijay Hazare Trophy. But in longer formats, his performance level drops compared to white-ball cricket. The aim is to raise that consistency—if he plays 10 innings, 7-8 should be impactful,” Ojha added

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to leave ODI cricket?

The chatter about Suryavanshi taking up a bigger role in Indian cricket comes shortly after a new Dainik Jagran report claimed that the upcoming Australia tour could mark the end of ODI careers for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Meanwhile, a PTI report citing a BCCI official stated that the Indian board is focusing on the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup next year and would not make such a significant decision hastily.

Notably, the two batters had announced their retirement from T20 cricket last year and ahead of the England Test series this year, they had also decided to quit Test cricket.