Talented Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has a long way to go, says Sanath Jayasuriya

September 20, 2026

Gurugram: Legendary Sri Lanka cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya has lauded young Indian batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying that he has a long way to go, while terming Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson as talented and proven players.

15-year-old Sooryavanshi, who made his international debut in the T20I tour of England in July. was recently an unused member in India’s 3-0 series win over Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, as Abhishek and Sanju made 346 runs between themselves across the series, including sharing a 142-run opening stand in the third T20I.

The trio are in Japan for the historic one-off T20I in Sano on Tuesday, before playing in the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan. “They’re talented and they’ve been proven players and all three, Sooryavanshi and all these players are really good. Sooryavanshi has a long way to go and when he will get the opportunity, he will do good,” Jayasuriya said to IANS on the sidelines of the launch of the Corporate Cricket World Cup on Sunday.

Commenting on Sri Lanka’s prospects at the Asian Games, where the women’s team is set to battle against India in the gold medal game and the men’s campaign is scheduled to kick off later this week, Jayasuriya backed both squads to deliver strong performances. “I think we have a talented, good team for Asian Games, men’s and women’s and they’re doing well and I hope they will continue to do well,” he noted.

He also reserved special praise for rising Sri Lankan batting all-rounder Sonal Dinusha, and hailed his ability to deliver under pressure. Dinusha had scores of 100 and 84 in the first Test against India in Galle which Sri Lanka lost. But his knocks of 103 and 133 not out in the second one at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo helped Sri Lanka seal an epic draw.

“Very good player, and future of Sri Lanka. It’s always been good to see a player like him performing really well under pressure. It’s not easy and in every innings he played really well,” he added.

The former explosive opener, who is serving as the global ambassador for the Corporate Cricket World Cup, stated the importance of workplace tournaments in unearthing hidden talent and offering second chances to players who missed out on mainstream pathways.

The pan-India competition will see 192 corporate teams square off across 24 cities, with each city fielding eight teams. Following the city-level qualifiers, the top two teams from each destination will secure a berth in the July 2027 showpiece event.

In a bid to test players across different dynamics of the sport, the tournament will feature a mix of formats, including 11-overs-a-side, T20s, and 40-over matches, thus allowing working cricketers to showcase their adaptability and skills under varied conditions.

“As global ambassador, I have a theory about this corporate world cup. It’s starting from the cities and when you play in your city and when you have the opportunity, the players who are in the corporate sector, who are talented cricketers, who have missed their opportunities, they have a chance to show their talent.

“So from that talent, like the players we have been talking about just now, how he became a player for India, it’s like that you’ll be able to find few players, so that’s the key,” concluded Jayasuriya.