Indian batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been enjoying a wave of success since making headlines in the Indian Premier League and subsequently earning the India call-up. His rise has been incredibly extraordinary. After taking the IPL 2026 by storm, the left-handed batter received his India T20I call-up during the team’s tour of England in June. He later went on to impress and claimed the Player of the Series award in only his second international series (IND vs ZIM T20Is). Now in his next assignment, Sooryavanshi is set to represent East Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy, giving him an opportunity to test his skills in the red-ball format. Meanwhile, former India head coach Rahul Dravid believes this transition is very important for Sooryavanshi.

"I think you always have to find that balance. And I think it's a great thing that Vaibhav is getting the experience of playing some white-ball cricket through the IPL in India," Dravid told Cricinfo. 

"But he's also having the time to go back and play red-ball cricket in the Indian domestic system and grow his red-ball career."

"All of us also want to see Test cricket survive, all of us want to see Test cricket grow, and we need players like him to be able to hopefully play all formats of the game."

Dravid said that Sooryavanshi needs consistent exposure in red-ball cricket in order to grow. 

"The good thing is he’s going to take some time, he’s going to need some experience, he’s going to get an opportunity to play a lot of red-ball cricket. He's not played as much red-ball cricket as probably white-ball cricket.”

“He's only 15, and I think you've got to just give him some time, and you've got to be patient with him. He's obviously been such a success straightaway, right, but he's going to go through his ups and downs, and I think people are going to have to be patient with him,” Dravid said.