'You cannot force': R Ashwin opens up on how Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's transition to Test cricket should happen
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'You cannot force': R Ashwin opens up on how Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's transition to Test cricket should happen originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Ravichandran Ashwin believes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi should play Test cricket, but insists the transition cannot be forced
- Sooryavanshi, 15, won the IPL 2026 Orange Cap with 776 runs for Rajasthan Royals
- Sooryavanshi is likely to make his India debut soon in the T20I format.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi grabbed headlines with sensation IPL 2026 performance
RCB might have won the IPL last Sunday, but if there was one name that kept Indian fans buzzing all season long, then it was Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The 15-year-old single-handedly dragged an average Rajasthan Royals side all the way to the Qualifiers 2.
While the Gujarat Titans might have prevailed in the end, Sooryavanshi, with his 776 runs across 16 games, effortlessly claimed the Orange Cap. But while his grip on the domestic circuit is already solid, some fans and critics have been asking if it is time to give the youngster a chance with the Test side.
Former Indian star and spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin had something to say on that. He shared his views on Sooryavanshi's future at the Cricinfo Honours Awards 2026, where the former all-rounder was named among the 25 greatest men's international cricketers of the 21st century, ranked 25th on the list.
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Ashwin believes Sooryavanshi should play Test cricket
Ashwin made it clear that he personally believes Sooryavanshi should pursue the longest format. However, he also believes that it shouldn't be pushed too soon on the 15-year-old.
With the current ecosystem of Indian talent firmly calibrated on the shortest format, he thinks that the aspirations of young prodigies like Sooryavanshi might not look at Test cricket in the same way.
"I personally think he should play Test cricket. If you're thinking about the larger good of the game, then I believe he should. But that said, can you teach your children what they are not willing to learn? You simply can't," he said at the award ceremony.
Ashwin continued, "I think the ecosystem is driving these things, and sometimes, when the game tells you what needs to be done, it's better to follow what it's telling you. You cannot force a particular facet of the game." In his view, red ball cricket doesn't appeal to young players in the same way as it did 20 years ago.
"Yes, Test cricket is the pinnacle, but I've been involved in grassroots coaching for a long time, and I don't see young cricketers turning up wanting to play red-ball cricket," he said. "They defend a couple of balls and immediately want to learn the shots that will get them out of trouble."
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The Cricket News Opinion: Ashwin knows better than anyone else how tough test cricket is
When someone like Ashwin says these things, it's hard to look the other way. While he might have called it wraps on his test career in 2024, his time with the Indian National Team was just too prolific to forget.
With 765 wickets across formats, he has been the face of an Indian bowling attack that terrorised opponents. For a man of such Test pedigree, the concern about red-ball cricket's diminishing appeal among youngsters clearly runs deep. He is seeing it in real-time how the number of tests India is playing is getting reduced each year.
But beyond that, test cricket takes a degree of patience and grit that T20 simply doesn't have. Ashwin knows this personally with multiple innings where he remained the last man on the pitch between India's batting collapse and a comeback. Power hitting didn't matter since one wrong shot meant a follow-on.
Whether Sooryavanshi chooses to pursue Tests or not, Ashwin's comments highlight a tension within Indian cricket that will only grow louder as the T20 era continues to expand its reach.
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