Vaibhav Suryavanshi's Instagram story draws buzz before fifth T20I; benched in all four games

The fifth and deciding T20 of the India-West Indies series is being played in Bengaluru today. The two teams are level at 2-2 after four matches. Ahead of the game, an Instagram story posted by young India batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi is being widely discussed.

Suryavanshi has not yet got a chance to play in this series against West Indies. He has been kept on the bench in all four matches so far. At the Asian Games, however, he had made the playing XI. Against West Indies, India are opening the innings with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma.

Except for one match, Samson has not been seen performing well in any of the games. Criticism is coming from all quarters that Suryavanshi has been kept on the bench despite his talent. Some veteran players have also commented on the matter.

Before the match, Suryavanshi put up a story on Instagram. It carries a photo of himself with the Asia Cup Rising Stars team. The 15-year-old left-hander captioned the photo "Still believing".

A reason for his not getting a chance is also being cited. At the Asian Games, India played one bowler fewer, so Suryavanshi could not play. With him in the side, Samson batted at number three and Ishan Kishan at number five. The entire batting order therefore had to be changed. In the series against West Indies, the team returned to its regular combination.

Suryavanshi, 15, made his India debut on the tour of England. He has so far played eight T20 internationals for India, scoring 246 runs at an average of 30.75 and a strike rate of 186. He has two half-centuries to his name.

After failing in England, Suryavanshi hit both of his half-centuries on the tour of Zimbabwe. He was also named player of the series in that series.