Vaibhav Sooryavanshi may have captured the imagination of the cricket world with his big-hitting prowess at the age of 15 in last year’s IPL but the Indian team management is being cautious with the teenager. There have been moments in his fledgling international career when it has looked clear that he remains in early stages of his development despite his immense talent and India bowling coach Morne Morkel has said that he likes to challenge Sooryavanshi regardless of whether he is playing or not.

Morkel said that being with the team is good for Sooryavanshi’s development, regardless of whether he is in the playing eleven or not. “If he is not getting that game time, he is still on a bus, in the dugout, in the hotel with guys with a lot of experience,” Morkel told reporters ahead of India’s first T20I against the West Indies. “I think, with him, sharing that dressing room and talking to guys, just actually watching how the guys go through their processes and how they set up will be key.

“So I always challenge him. I say, ‘watch what this guy is doing in training. How does he face his first 15 balls when the wicket is tough? What sort of game plan has he come up with?’

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“For any young player, if he gets game time or if that game time is a little bit limited, it is still our job to make sure that these guys learn, they grow and they ask questions.”

“I always ask him on the bus, ‘What is the one thing you have learned today? Tell me what you think about that guy’s batting’. That makes him think, and I think next time he comes to the nets, the sort of things he will observe, he will adapt to his game.”

Morkel said that he can’t say for sure if Sooryavanshi will open for India in all five of their upcoming T20Is against the West Indies. Head coach Gautam Gambhir had said that the teenager will have to wait for his chances. Sooryavanshi has played eight T20Is thus far and has a strike rate of 186.16 but an average of only 30.75 in the 246 runs he has scored. He is yet to play an international match in India, having been left on the bench during the T20I series against Afghanistan earlier this year while Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma opened.

“I am pretty sure Gautam will look to rotate them,” Morkel said about India’s openers. “The guys just came back from the Asian Games, so we want to see how everybody is feeling after jet lag, after travelling, and then from there make the plan.”