It’s not like Vaibhav can walk in right now, our openers are scoring consistently: Iyer

India captain Shreyas Iyer, left, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi greet each other in between the wickets. | Photo Credit: PTI

India T20 captain Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday said young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi cannot “walk” into the playing eleven just yet as Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are scoring consistently at the top, insisting that the teenager will get his chances in due course.

Since being picked for the England and Ireland tour earlier this year, Sooryavanshi has featured in only eight of the 21 T20Is India have played so far, as regular openers Abhishek and Samson have been performing consistently.

Both of them played a key role in India defending its T20I World Cup title earlier this year.

“It’s important that a talent like him (Sooryavanshi) should always be happy around the dressing room,” Iyer said on the eve of a five-match series against New Zealand here.

“He is very young. He has more years to get opportunities. It’s not like he can walk in right now, because our openers are scoring consistently, and they have won the World Cup.”

At the Asian Games, Samson dropped down to number three to accommodate Sooryavanshi, allowing the youngster to open the innings.

Iyer, however, believes the youngster’s exposure to overseas conditions will help him prepare better for future assignments.

“So, if you see, when he is coming overseas, he will get a fair idea of how to play on these particular wickets.

“Next time, whenever he comes in these conditions, he will be very well-prepared. And he can also instruct the other team members, whoever comes here for the first time.”

India has arrived in New Zealand following an intense scheduling block that included back-to-back home series against Afghanistan and the West Indies, alongside participation in the Asian Games over the past month.

“We’ve done that in the past, especially after finishing the Afghanistan series. We went to Ireland, and we got a couple of more matches in between. But it’s fun at the same time to be travelling, playing and getting accustomed to new conditions.

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“Well, we just want to put the reasons aside and see to it how we would be planning to win. That’s the chat going on inside the dressing room.”

Used to batting on flat pitches at home, India will have to adapt quickly to the pace-friendly conditions and the cold weather in New Zealand. Iyer said his team is used to the grind.

“If you look at the conditions here, fast bowling suits here. It’s not like the conditions are completely different. In England, the way we played, they had prepared wickets according to our batting,” he pointed out.

“But on a given day, no one knows how the wicket will be. So, we will try to acclimatise as soon as possible. And once we have a good practice session, every individual will get a fair idea of how to plan.”

Iyer acknowledged that New Zealand would have the home advantage to bank on.

“Yeah, we’ve been playing consistently, and there is a camaraderie in the team. And talking about the home conditions, the advantage they have is definitely knowing about what the conditions are on different wickets. So, that’s the only difference.”

With India boasting of strong bench strength, Iyer said competition for places is a “sweet headache” to have, and it would motivate players to perform consistently.

On his own batting position, the skipper said he “doesn’t foresee” himself going up the order with the likes of Ishan Kishan doing well at No. 3.

“I feel that (with regards to) the team demands in a particular situation, you should be flexible. And if you see here, there are a lot of batters who, lower down the order, can’t be that destructive.

“I feel that I can bat at any number. It depends upon the situation of the game at that point,” said Iyer, who has oscillated between number four and five in recent past.

“Now, if you see in the last World Cup, Kishan was consistently batting at number three, and he is a number one batter right now. So, I don’t foresee myself pushing myself up the order.”

‘Indian bowling has been lacking experience, Bhuvi brings a lot of it’

India coach Gautam Gambhir speaks with captain Shreyas Iyer in the company of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

The 36-year-old Bhuvneshwar Kumar has returned to the Indian T20I setup after four years.

“Bhuvi brings a lot of experience to the team. And we were lacking that, especially after the IPL. We had a lot of new bowlers,” Iyer said.

“But in T20, if you see his career graph, he has won the IPL in each of the last two years. So, he has a very good idea of how to dominate this format.”

In the absence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, India’s T20I bowling attack featuring fast bowlers Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, and Gurnoor Brar has faced scrutiny after repeatedly conceding big totals on flat tracks.

Bhuvneshwar, known for his ability to generate swing and seam movement, has collected 90 scalps across 88 T20Is.

In the IPL, he played a key role in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s back-to-back titles, taking 17 wickets in the 2025 season and 28 in 2026.