'A youngster like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has nothing to lose' - Abhishek Nayar backs India's wonderkid despite slow start to international career

Abhishek Nayar opined that a youngster like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi doesn't have anything to lose, while the bowlers who are bowling to him have their reputation at stake.

Sooryavanshi replaced Sanju Samson ahead of the second T20I and made his international debut. However, the 15-year-old has not hit his straps as yet. In three games, he has scored 14, 13, and 15. However, Nayar said that the youngster won't feel much pressure just yet because he is still new in international cricket and doesn't have too many expectations around him.

"You always feel that there's Jasprit Bumrah, there's Jofra Archer, experienced bowlers, but the pressure is actually on them because a young kid has nothing to lose. Even if he gets out first ball to Bumrah, no one is going to question him. But as a bowler, when you know there's a player who won't shy away from hitting a six off the very first ball, there's always more fear for the person who has more to lose," Nayar said while speaking on JioStar's 'Googlies'.

"The bigger names are the ones thinking, 'Oh, he hit me for a six. His stock will rise and mine will fall. And if I get him out, people will just say he's a kid.' That's why a young player comes in with complete freedom. But the more he plays, the more he makes a name for himself, the higher the expectations become, and the more difficult it is to sustain that level of performance," he added.

Shreyas Iyer is still searching for his first win as India's T20I captain. Under his leadership, India have lost five matches out of the six they have played so far. One of the games was washed out. However, Nayar backed Shreyas to lead the team to success, as he highlighted how the Mumbai cricketer led young and inexperienced teams to success in the past.

"In his last T20I innings for India before this tour, he had scored a fifty-odd against Australia in Bengaluru. He was someone who always scored runs. And not just in the IPL, he also led Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title as captain. I think he reached a stage where he stopped playing for or worrying about India selection," Nayar said.

"When Rajat Patidar took over the captaincy of RCB, the team already had a lot of senior players. You knew that side would do well anyway. They had a very good auction and a solid bowling attack. The teams Shreyas Iyer has taken over were not particularly strong teams, and when you succeed with sides like that, you earn a different kind of recognition. That's why people say there's something special about his captaincy; he's able to get results with several youngsters in the team," he added.

Vaibhav's runs haven't crossed his age so far: Aakash Chopra

India are 0-3 down in the five-match series with a game to play. The fifth and final T20I will be held at The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Saturday, July 11.