England fast bowler Jofra Archer expects another battle with India’s teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and says, “May the best win.”At just 15, Sooryavanshi has already made a name for himself after finishing as the leading run-scorer, leading six-hitter and Most Valuable Player of this year’s Indian Premier League. However, England managed to keep him quiet in his first two T20 internationals. The left-hander scored 14 in Manchester and 13 in Nottingham as England won both matches to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.Despite the low scores, Sooryavanshi has shown his batting ability, already hitting four sixes in two innings. Two of those six came off Archer during their contest in the second T20I.The England pacer responded in the third match at Trent Bridge, dismissing Sooryavanshi with a 91mph short ball that skimmed the batsman’s glove before being caught by the keeper.“Everything is even now,” Archer said. “We have two games left and it could go anywhere, so let the best man win.”The two will meet again in the fourth T20I in Bristol on Thursday.Shreyas Iyer-led India come into the must-win match trailing 0-2 in the series after struggling to adapt to the England conditions.One of the key selection questions for India is whether Sanju Samson returns to the playing XI. The wicketkeeper-batsman was left out of the second and third T20Is, with Sooryavanshi taking his place at the top of the order.
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Sooryavanshi has not performed significantly better or worse than the rest of the batting line-up so far, and with India on the brink of another T20I series defeat, it remains to be seen whether the team management sticks with the teenager or brings back Samson.