India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer has said that teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will have to wait for his opportunities in the playing XI, with established openers Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson continuing to deliver consistent performances at the top of the order.
Iyer stressed that Sooryavanshi has plenty of time to establish himself in the Indian team and will get his chances in due course.
The 15-year-old has featured in only eight of India's 21 T20Is since being picked for the England and Ireland tours earlier this year, as the team has continued to rely on Abhishek and Samson.
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Both openers played key roles in India's successful defence of their T20 World Cup title earlier this year, strengthening their positions in the team.
"It's important that a talent like him (Sooryavanshi) should always be happy around the dressing room," Iyer said on the eve of a five-match series against New Zealand here.
"He is very young, he has more years to get opportunities. It's not like he can walk in right now, because our openers are scoring consistently, and they have won the World Cup."
At the Asian Games, Samson moved down to number three to accommodate Sooryavanshi at the top of the order, allowing the youngster to open the innings. Iyer believes the upcoming tour of New Zealand will give Sooryavanshi valuable exposure to overseas conditions and help him prepare for future tours.
"So, if you see, when he is coming overseas, he will get a fair idea how to play on these particular wickets.
"Next time, whenever he comes in these conditions, he will be very well-prepared. And he can also instruct the other team members, whoever comes here for the first time."
The Indian team has arrived in New Zealand after a demanding schedule that included back-to-back home T20I series against Afghanistan and the West Indies, along with participation in the Asian Games over the past month.
India will now face a different challenge in New Zealand, where the conditions are expected to offer more assistance to fast bowlers.
Having played much of their recent cricket on relatively flat home pitches, the visitors will need to adapt quickly to the pace-friendly surfaces and colder weather.
However, Iyer believes the team is used to playing in a demanding schedule and is prepared for the challenge. The five-match T20I series against New Zealand begins on October 22 in Christchurch.
"We've done that in the past, especially after finishing the Afghanistan series. We went to Ireland, and we got a couple of more matches in between. But it's fun at the same time to be travelling, playing and getting accustomed to new conditions.
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"Well, we just want to put the reasons aside and see to it how we would be planning to win. That's the chat going on inside the dressing room."
The series will provide Sooryavanshi with an opportunity to gain further experience in overseas conditions, even as he waits for a place in India's playing XI.
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