India's stand-in head coach VVS Laxman is impressed with the 'very mature' knock from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the third T20I of the series against Zimbabwe. Sooryavanshi scored 81 runs from 49 balls in the dead rubber, winning ‘Player of the match’ and ‘Player of the series’. While the 15-year-old opener has recovered from setbacks on England soil in debut T20I series, Laxman wants the youngster to improve his overall fitness. The head of Centre of Excellence (CoE), Bengaluru, revealed that the youngster was eager to stay on the field despite an injury in an attempt to take a catch on July 26.
"The one area we want him to improve is his overall fitness. He's a very young boy. He himself wants to get better in every aspect of the game. Even today, when he got injured, he still wanted to stay on the field. It was our physio who asked him to come off. That's the eagerness and earnestness he has to contribute in every possible way to the team," Laxman said in the post-match press conference.
ALSO READ: Boxer Jadumani Singh thrashes Pakistan's Sumama Rehman in CWG 2026, dedicates win to Kargil heroes
Sooryavanshi scored 151 runs in the three-T20I series, six more than his teammate Ishan Kishan. The young southpaw scored at a strike rate of 196.10. He broke the world record for most T20I centuries before turning 16 (among full-member nations). Overall, he is level with Nepal’s Kushal Malla. However, with plenty of T20I action left in 2026, he is likely to break Malla’s record.
ALSO READ: Weightlifter Raja Muthupandi wins silver medal at CWG 2026 but disappointed to let coach down
Sooryavanshi bats with patience
On July 26, skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first. Abhishek Sharma's disappointing run continued as he was dismissed for a single-digit score. Sooryavanshi showed controlled aggression in the powerplay overs, scoring 35 runs from 20 deliveries. He reached his second T20I half-century from 31 deliveries in the 10th over. After Kishan departed for a 26-ball 29, Sooryavanshi continued to attack. He even hit Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza for a monstrous 102-metre six. In the 15th over, he was dismissed by Wessly Wadhevere as Brad Evans pulled off a stunning catch at long-off. His knock was studded with eight fours and four sixes.
When Sooryavanshi departed, India were 145/3. Rinku Singh's 14-ball 25 cameo took India to 192/5. In reply, Zimbabwe suffered a mini collapse. Brian Bennett and Raza were dismissed for golden ducks. Ben Curran and Dion Myers departed after getting starts. Ryan Burl scored an unbeaten 43-ball 54 but it wasn't enough to take Zimbabwe close to the target. Mayank Yadav starred with a three-fer as India beat Zimbabwe by 35 runs to complete series cleansweep.