"It won't always be easy" - AB de Villiers makes scathing remark on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's red-ball future amid IND vs AFG 2026 Test

Former South African captain AB de Villiers questioned Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's desire to play red-ball cricket amid the ongoing one-off Test between India and Afghanistan at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh. Last week, the 15-year-old became the youngest player to get called up to the Indian national team. He has been picked in the T20 squads set to face Ireland and England and the subsequent Asian Games competition.

Sooryavanshi took the cricket fraternity by storm earlier this season, amassing 776 runs in 16 matches at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of 237.30. He finished with the most runs in the season and won the Orange Cap. While de Villiers lauded Sooryavanshi's exemplary talent in the shortest format, he expressed his doubts over whether the youngster is willing to play red-ball cricket.

"He's a wonderful talent. The red-ball thing I absolutely cannot answer. I think he can if he wants to, but there's your answer, and there's the big question as well: Does he really want to? Time will tell. There's no doubt he's got the talent and ability to do so. It won't always be easy, and I've mentioned that a few times before," de Villiers told NDTV.

De Villiers hoped that Sooryavanshi would take up the challenge of playing red-ball cricket and asserted that the Bihar batter has what it takes to succeed in the longest format of the game.

"If he decides to play red-ball cricket, there will be some challenges, but he's got the skill and the ability to work through that. In my opinion, I hope he does try and play, but I doubt it. We'll see," said De Villiers (via the aforementioned source).

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Sooryavanshi has played eight first-class matches so far in his career. He has scored 207 runs at an average of 17.25 and has a strike rate of 90. He has one half-century to his name, which is his highest score of 93.