Restoring 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to his familiar opening slot in the third T20I against New Zealand after a brief stint at No. 3 where he had scored only four runs off eight balls proved to be an absolute masterstroke as he hammered a 19-ball 45 laced with four sixes and four fours at a staggering strike rate of 236.84, leading former India batter and veteran of 19 Tests and 24 ODIs Sadagopan Ramesh to comment that this promotion to the opener’s role meant the team management had given the youngster a sweet “chocolate” to relish, alongside heaping high praise on Abhishek Sharma by declaring that Abhishek is batting like someone whom bowlers fear just by hearing his name and that he batted like a demon today to shatter nearly all records for the fastest opening partnerships by putting up 133 runs in just seven overs at a breathtaking run rate of 19, metaphorically remarking that even though Diwali is still some time away, the Indian batters, particularly Abhishek, practically burst Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 crackers with their bats. This phenomenal performance did not go unnoticed by India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, who described the breathtaking batting display of Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as absolutely stunning after their explosive start safely guided India to a six-wicket win over New Zealand on Tuesday, officially sealing an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, while sharing in the post-match presentation that it was absolutely stunning and pleasing to the eyes to watch them play such strokes, and recalling how he and Sanju Samson struggled with the seaming ball when they went out to bat, making him wonder how the openers managed such a feat so cleanly, before concluding with the match statistics where Sharma smashed a breathtaking 113 off 38 balls with 11 sixes and nine fours and Sooryavanshi added 45 off 19 deliveries to overhaul New Zealand’s target of 199 in a mere 13.2 overs with 40 balls remaining.
The ‘Chocolate’ Trick: How Gautam Gambhir and Team Management Unleashed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on New Zealand
