No doubts about Sooryavanshi fitness, asks Penney

For someone who is on the cusp of breaking Chris Gayle's record of most sixes in an IPL season, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi does not really need to do a lot of running between the wickets and there are no doubts about his fitness, RR Assistant coach Trevor Penney said Saturday.

The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi has so far hit 53 sixes in this year's IPL so far and is only six hits away from breaking Gayle's record of 59 sixes in an edition.

''(Sooryavanshi's) running between the wickets, (is) very good. But he doesn't really have to run between the wickets too much, does he? It's just about to break Chris Gayle's record for sixes,'' Penney told reporters here on the eve of RR's contest against Mumbai Indians.

Penney said there are no doubts about Sooryavanshi's skills on the field and in order to keep him fresh for batting, he has been kept out of fielding work during matches.

''He is a very good fielder. He has got great hands. He moves well, he dives, he anticipates, he has got all that. It's just the way it has worked out and sometimes with him opening the batting, him going in and (in) the second innings being fresh.''.

''It has worked for us, so there's no specific reason of 'why, oh, he's a bad fielder, we're not playing in the field'. It has nothing to do with that. It's just circumstances,'' the former India fielding coach added.

Penney said Sooryavanshi has mostly been quiet around the team but is well looked after.

''We don't really have to talk to him too much, he's just in his little bubble. He practices hard and then when he goes out to play, he just enjoys himself,'' Penney said.

''It's pretty rare that I've ever seen that (kind of talent) - I've been in cricket for 40 years and I haven't seen that before - so long may that last. We've got a really good team, managerial staff (and) support staff that are looking after him. He is very young and the nights are long and that sort of stuff, so we look after him in the evenings.''.

Penney continued, ''… (we) make sure he practices accordingly and look after all those small things which you have to do with a young boy. But he's pretty freaky in a way, how he's dealing with it all.''.

Penney said RR will continue to wait on the availability of their skipper Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja who are dealing with niggles.

''We're going to test today, practice to see if we can pick them for tomorrow (Sunday). I can't say much more than that; (I am) not really on the selection panel. But they're looking good. (In the) last game, (they) didn't play and we won. So if they're not available, I'm sure it's such a good squad,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Penney said it is a weird situation for England pacer Jofra Archer to be involved in the IPL and missing the first Test against New Zealand due to workload management.

It is a situation which has been criticised by former England captain Michael Vaughan.

''Everybody knows IPL is the thing to come to, so if he misses one game for England, then that's so weird for him. I think that's how he's thinking,'' Penney replied.

''It doesn't bother him, I don't think. Maybe he'd be a bit annoyed, but I can't answer for him for that. He's just getting on as normal. He's hardly even mentioned it. The guys haven't even spoken about it.''.

''It is what it is. You either come and choose here and annoy people there or you leave here early and then you're in trouble over never coming back to the IPL again,'' he added.

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