Aaryavir Sehwag has quality to play for India, but needs to take things step by step, says Delhi U-19 coach Nayyar

New Delhi: Aaryavir Sehwag has the potential to play for India, but he needs to take things one step at a time to play senior international cricket in future, said Delhi U-19 men’s head coach Rajeev Nayyar.

Aaryavir, the elder son of former India opener Virender Sehwag, is coming off captaining Delhi in their 2026/27 Vinoo Mankad Trophy campaign, with his highlight being hitting a brilliant 173 off 143 balls with 19 fours and 8 sixes against Chandigarh at the PVG Raju ACA Sports Complex in Vizianagaram.

"Earlier, he had been scoring well but he wasn’t converting starts into centuries, so we had a chat (before the game). I can honestly say he has a great batting style, but after reaching 40-50 runs, he was losing his wicket. I was having a chat with him in the room and said you don’t need to worry about playing against the other boys in the DDCA.

“Look around and see who is scoring runs. There is Rahul Dravid’s son (Anvay), who scored 158 and 85-90 against us. You have competition. I’m not saying you have to be envious, but know that you have competition. You have to look all over the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and country and know that you need to be the highest run-scorer. So I told him you need to convert your scores into centuries. If you bat for 50 overs you will definitely score 200 runs.

“Many people have asked me if he will play for India. I said it is still early. India is a big country and everybody is playing cricket but he has quality to play. But he has to take it one step at a time. He is still in under 19 team. Maybe he will play in the U-23s and then the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy. Then he will play for India A and eventually that path leads to playing for India,” Nayyar told IANS in a free-wheeling chat.

That superlative effort, though, went in vain, as Delhi couldn’t get the win over Chandigarh. Though Delhi didn’t progress to knockouts after finishing at the bottom of Group E standings, that blistering knock has potentially earned Aaryavir, who previously played in India U-19 ODI series against Australia in Rajkot last month, a spot in India’s squad for the Asia Cup, to be played in Al Amarat, Oman from November 5-14.

With the Parvinder Awana-led selection committee taking charge, the squad is expected to be revealed in coming days. “He has an awesome batting style. In cricket there are two types of batters - defensive and strokeplay.

“He is a strokeplay batter and I told him, ‘We do not have a deep batting line-up, so if you stay out there as a captain you are setting an example. You are showing that you have leadership qualities. You have to show you can play. That will become a habit.’

“I don’t want him to lose his wicket in the 40s and 50s and sit outside in the dressing room. I don’t like it. Everyone is watching him. He has to be careful. As a coach I definitely want him to score in every game,” added Nayyar.

Interestingly, Nayyar has a long-standing relationship with the Sehwag family. In December 1999, he formed an unbreakable 381-run 5th wicket partnership with Virender Sehwag while playing for North Zone against South Zone in Agartala.

In that game, Sehwag came in at 149/4 and faced the formidable South Zone attack of Sunil Joshi, Venkatapathy Raju and Aashish Kapoor, along with Robin Singh and S Mahesh present in the team.

He smashed 274 off 327 balls with 36 fours and 4 sixes in 416 minutes before getting stumped by Raju. Nayyar anchored the innings with 118 off 469 balls as North Zone scored 530/5. "What has stood out is his confidence against the pacers. In the last game when he scored 173 it was incredible. I played with his father and the way he was hitting the ball.

“He didn’t even move his feet. He hit some shots over cover. I was amazed by his confidence. He was hitting the ball over the fielders against the pacers. Most batters would be afraid to do it.

“They would think they wouldn’t hit over the fielders against the pace bowlers. He batted brilliantly. When he came back he said 'Sir I know you aren’t happy. I should have scored 200.' I said yes but you are brilliant. He also took a brilliant catch in the slips after I asked who would take slips and he said 'Sir I will take that.’

Nayyar felt he saw shades of elder Sehwag in Aaryavir, but was impressed by the youngster’s focus and dedication towards the game. "I met him for the first time at the camp. I played with his father in the Duleep Trophy for 2 years and had that record partnership. Now I come to Aaryavir. He is a kid.

“If he is playing well and he scored 173 runs in that game then the credit doesn’t go to me as the coach. It goes to his father and to the coach who has been there for the past 5-8-10 years. What can I say? I can share my experience. In the beginning he was scoring runs very quickly in the powerplay.

"As a coach, I can say he has that quality. I’m not saying he bats like his dad but he is similar. Right? He is learning a lot. He hits some Papa wale shots (shots like his father). No doubt it is fun to watch but he is very focussed. When he loses his wicket, he sits outside and doesn’t speak to anybody.

“He sits in a corner and reflects on what he did. He came up to me and said 'Sir I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have played that shot.' He lost his wicket twice at mid-wicket against the off-spinner. I asked him why he was playing outside the line? The ball was a long way away. If you play the ball a little close to you, you will hit it along the ground.

"But if you don’t reach the ball and play outside the line it will go in the air. That’s why you lost your wicket. He took my advice. I hope he gets picked for the India U-19 team for the Asia Cup. I hope he plays well because I told him Pakistan will be playing. He has to play well.

Nayyar signed off by saying the youngster has already set his sights on doing well in the Asia Cup. "He said, 'Sir, I will score a hundred against Pakistan.' I said that’s brilliant. I really like that. I was just worried about whether he would play in the Cooch Behar Trophy. But he said, 'Sir, I will be available. My matches will all finish a week before the Cooch Behar Trophy starts.' He is very, very committed. At such a young age he is very committed to the game and that’s what I like about him."

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