At 15, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has already become one of India’s most talked-about young cricketers. But for his teammates, it is not just his ability with the bat that stands out. His understanding of the game has also caught their attention.

Ahead of India’s first T20I against Japan in Sano on Tuesday, all-rounder Washington Sundar said Sooryavanshi’s ability to understand the game, along with his skills, made him a dangerous player.

“He’s just extremely skillful. And obviously, he’s got a great head as well. He understands his own game and also understands how to win battles against different oppositions and different conditions as well. He’s extremely smart. And being really smart, along with the kind of skill sets that he’s got, is obviously going to be a dangerous combo. And he’s already shown us what he’s capable of. And obviously, we can all expect him to win a lot of games for our country,” Sundar said in a press conference on Monday.

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Sundar also spoke about his first impressions of Japan and what friends who had visited the country had told him.

“I mean, some of my friends have already come over here, and they’ve always told me that you can expect Japan to be, when you experience Japan, you can expect it to be at least 10-15 years ahead of time. And yes, I mean, we’ve not had much time to go out yet, but it just looks really beautiful. The facilities are amazing, especially this hotel and around the hotel, everything is so clean.”

“So, you know, obviously looking forward to play a lot of games here and understand the conditions, what the conditions are like here, and have a great experience in Japan. Obviously, playing a big tournament like Asian Games, it’s just a great blessing for all of us to be here, and if we could play some good cricket and win the gold medal as well, I think we would all carry all the memories through the tour and obviously the gold medal for a very, very long time,” he said.

On the Asian Games, Sundar said India’s goal was to win the gold medal and that the team was confident of doing well if it played to its strengths.

“I mean, to obviously win the gold medal.”

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“And we feel if we can play to our strengths and potential, we’ve always been unstoppable and we’ve been extremely strong, especially in this format. So, we’re just looking forward to prepare over here in Tokyo and be, you know, really prepared by the time we go to the Asian Games and have a great set of games over there and eventually win the World Cup,” the all-rounder said.

Sundar also spoke about the growth of cricket in Japan and said he would follow the country’s franchise league. He hoped players from Japan could one day play in the IPL.

“Obviously, it’s a great thing that cricket is played in Japan, and obviously you guys are playing a franchise league as well in Japan. It’s only gonna reach a lot more people across the world. And yes, I’m not too sure when it happens, or when is the time in the year it happens, but yes, we will make sure we have a track of this league.”

“And if some of the players who are playing for Japan and in the Japan Premier League go on to play for the IPL, it will only be great for all of us. And yes, I mean, I’ll make sure I tell my teammates as well to keep a track on all the players over here,” Sundar said.