IND vs NZ: Ex-India opener Ramesh says Vaibhav 'panicked' at number 3

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi finally played after missing four of India's T20Is following the Asian Games 2026 gold medal match against Pakistan. The 15-year-old replaced the injured Ishan Kishan in the second T20I against New Zealand on Saturday (Oct 24) but failed to capitalize. Batting at No. 3, Sooryavanshi scored 4 off 8 balls in pursuit of 181. This was the first time Vaibhav had batted at any position other than opening the innings. Former India batter Sadagoppan Ramesh said that changing his batting position caused Vaibhav to panic, which showed in his performance.

Former India opener says Vaibhav panicked at No. 3

"He should have opened. As a youngster, as soon as the management told him that he would bat at No. 3, he would have panicked. His strength is batting at 0/0 with the anticipation of whether he’s going to hit a six or four off his first delivery," said former India opener Ramesh on his Instagram channel.

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"His batting style has been one where he smashes it in the powerplay and then continues with that momentum in the middle overs. When he is so young and is new to the pressure of international cricket, it would have been ideal to play him at a position he’s comfortable at."

What happened in the match?

In the match, India pulled off a miracle win to go 2-0 up in the five-match T20I series. Chasing 181, India, the back-to-back T20 World Cup champions, were in a fix after being reduced to 70/5. Naman Dhir (31 off 17) then added 42 runs in 24 balls with Tilak Varma for the sixth wicket to stabilize the innings. Varma (51 not out off 26) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (26 not out off 13 balls) then added the remaining 69 runs in the next 30 balls as India romped home in 19.5 overs with four wickets in hand.