IPL 2026: T20 is not enough to get ‘respect’… Sanjay Manjrekar showed mirror to Vaibhav Suryavanshi, told him his big weakness

New Delhi: The explosive batting of 15 year old Vaibhav Suryavanshi is being discussed everywhere. After Under-19 and domestic cricket, Vaibhav is currently making waves for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026. Vaibhav Suryavanshi has scored a century in this season. Seeing Vaibhav’s explosive batting, it is being said that after the end of IPL, he will enter Team India, but former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has given a surprising statement about Vaibhav.

Manjrekar believes that Vaibhav is ready for international cricket, but currently only for the T20 format, but also said that he still needs to work on some areas. Vaibhav came into limelight last year by scoring a century in his first IPL season. He then performed brilliantly in domestic cricket and at the Under-19 level, including an innings of 175 runs in the Under-19 World Cup final earlier this year. In IPL 2026, he has scored 404 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 237.64.

Shubman and Yashasvi will challenge Vaibhav in T20- Manjrekar

Manjrekar believes that Vaibhav has performed well enough to stake a claim in Team India. Speaking to Sportstar, Manjrekar said that considering his performance in the IPL and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he scored a century against Maharashtra, he looks ready. Also, Manjrekar said that due to the presence of openers like Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, it will not be easy for Suryavanshi to make a place in the team. He told that Suryavanshi is part of the group of T20 batsmen who create space to play shots, but if he wants to play in the longer format, there is a need to change his technique.

According to Manjrekar, like the successful T20 batsmen of the last few years, Suryavanshi plays shots away from the line of the ball, whereas in Test cricket it is advisable to come closer to the ball. He said that in places like England, Australia or South Africa, you will not be able to score runs by staying away from the ball. He also added in the end that if you want to make your child famous and rich then T20 batting is fine, but if you want to get respect from the critics then he has to learn to play in the line of the ball.