Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been drafted into the Indian squads for away T20I assignments in Ireland and England, but so far the 15-year-old has had to wait on the sidelines for a chance to make his international debut.

Young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi looks as good as Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli in terms of talent, and his ability, not his age, should be taken into consideration while deciding on his selection, says legendary Kapil Dev. Sooryavanshi has been drafted into the Indian squads for away T20I assignments in Ireland and England, but so far the 15-year-old has had to wait on the sidelines for a chance to make his international debut. While the debate rages on over whether the explosive youngster should be played in place of some of India's T20 World Cup-winning stars, Kapil said Sooryavanshi has shown that he possesses the rarest of talents.

"If you are talking about the talent, yes he is as good as Sachin (Tendulkar) or Virat Kohli and the talent can be seen in him for T20, (but) for the rest (of the formats), he will have to prove (himself),” Kapil said on Vikrant podcast.

“The day he plays Test cricket, can he play five overs maiden? He is fabulous in T20s, to make such an impact at a young age, you will not find even one per cent of such people in the world,” he added.

The legendary Indian all-rounder said that although he has not seen Sooryavanshi play very often, there is already too much being said about the youngster, and he needs to be given space to grow.

“I have not seen a lot of him, have only seen a little bit. He has huge talent, without any doubt,” Kapil said.

“But (at the same time), I think we are talking too big about him. At the moment, he needs to be given some time. Do not create so much (hype) around him, someone who is of a young age do not even have such understanding…" On whether Vaibhav Sooryavanshi should be drafted into India's playing XI, Kapil said his ability, rather than his young age, should be the deciding factor, citing the example of Sachin Tendulkar.

“There are a couple of things -- and we can mention about Sachin because he was of the same age when he had played,” Kapil said.

“We used to wonder if we were playing him a little too early. But if you see the history, you will realise (and think), ‘kabhi kabhi late na ho jaye' (what if you end up delaying it?).” “I feel that if he is ready, his age should not be counted (taken into consideration) but his ability should be. If you feel that he can be played on his ability, he should be played,” he added.

The former India captain said it remains to be seen how Sooryavanshi responds to and emerges from difficult phases.

“It is not that his bad patch won't come, difficult times will come, how would he come out of it? There are only a few cricketers who never had a bad patch, be it Sachin Tendulkar or Sunil Gavaskar or Vivian Richards,” he said.

“All players have been through rough times... and a cricketer of his caliber, (it remains to be seen) how would he emerge from it? He looks so talented and the kids from the new generation are just so confident,” Kapil added.