Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has highlighted that Rajasthan Royals sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi needs to work on his fielding before he gets to play for India. While Sooryavanshi has made the headlines for his blistering show with the bat, Kaif has highlighted that the 15-year-old needs to work on his batting.
Speaking at JioStar’s ‘Champions Waali Commentary’, Kaif noted that Sooryavanshi has not taken a catch this season. “I believe scouts should also take a fielding test while scouting players,” Kaif said on the show.
“The scouts are bringing the right players; they are doing a great job, but I have not seen Vaibhav Suryavanshi take a single catch yet. If he wants to play for India, he needs to improve his fielding ability. He needs to pass that fielding test first.ย
“The ball that came towards him was at a good height. I understand that when a batter plays a flick shot, taking a catch can sometimes become difficult for a fielder as it becomes a blind spot, especially when the ball comes off the bat. But there, the shot that Sahil Parakh played, the ball came to Suryavanshi at a good height.ย
“Suryavanshi did a great job by getting into the right position to take that catch, but he missed the opportunity to execute it. There was no need for Suryavanshi to jump to take that catch. All he needed to do was take it near his waist, but he missed it. Vaibhav is really talented with the bat, no doubt about that, but when it comes to fielding, he is still not ready.”
RR captain Riyan Parag expressed his disappointment on RR’s fielding as they lost the game to DC. “I feel if you want to win a trophy, if you want to be contending every single year, you’ve got to be better than what we’ve done today,” Parag said at the post-match presentation. “Extremely disappointed. I feel we are a way better team than what we’ve played or shown in the last four-five games.
“But after coming from a break, I feel what we’ve shown today, energy-wise, skill-wise, execution-wise, is definitely not up to the mark. And if we keep on playing like this, we shouldn’t be in contention for the top four.”
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