Irfan Pathan Hails Vaibhav Sooryavanshi After India’s 3-0 Win in Zimbabwe
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit 81 off 49 in India’s 3-0 T20I sweep of Zimbabwe, earning both awards and strong praise from Irfan Pathan.
By SportCricket Desk · 27 Jul 2026 · 3 min read
Irfan Pathan has been full of praise for teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after India completed a 3-0 T20I series win over Zimbabwe. The result was a welcome rebound for Shreyas Iyer’s side, who had lost six T20Is on their tours of Ireland and England in recent weeks.
Sooryavanshi sets up the win
Batting first in the decider, India made 192/5, with the 15-year-old Sooryavanshi again the main contributor. He scored 81 from 49 balls, with eight fours and four sixes, on a tricky surface. Zimbabwe never got their chase going and finished on 157/7.
Pathan wrote on X that whoever Sooryavanshi replaces will struggle to win their place back, and asked how special the youngster is. He also singled out Mayank Yadav, who took three wickets in the last match and finished as the series’ leading wicket-taker with five. Pathan called the pair the biggest positives of the tour.
Series numbers
Sooryavanshi won Player of the Match and Player of the Series. He ended with 151 runs at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 196.10, including two half-centuries, making him the series’ top run-scorer.
What comes next
India’s next assignment is a two-match Test series in Sri Lanka, with the first Test beginning in Galle on August 15.
