New Delhi, June 24 (IANS) Former India cricketer and national selector Jatin Paranjape has backed seam-bowling all‑rounder Suryansh Shedge to enjoy a long international career after he earned his maiden India call-up for the T20I tours of Ireland and England, adding that the youngster possesses both the skill and temperament needed to play internationally for the next ten years.
Shedge was added to India’s squad as a replacement for injured Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has been ruled out due to a left quadriceps injury aggravated during last week’s third ODI against Afghanistan in Chennai. With Hardik Pandya sidelined by a leg niggle, Shedge and his progress will be closely watched by the team management and selectors given the scarcity of fast‑bowling all‑rounders in Indian cricket.
“He is a natural T20 cricketer and that will go in his favour. He will find international cricket has more intensity than IPL cricket. So, it will take him three or four games to get used to it. But I have no doubt that he has the talent and the mental strength to play for India for the next 10 years,” Paranjape told IANS in an exclusive conversation on Wednesday.
A clean striker of the ball who doubles up as a handy medium-pacer, Shedge arrives on the back of good recent performances. He scored 158 runs in seven innings at an average of 39.50 and a strike rate of 175.55 for Punjab Kings in IPL 2026, before following it up with making 147 runs at a strike rate of 120.49 and bowling 23 overs in five innings for India A in their 50-over tri-series win in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.
Paranjape, who has been coaching Suryansh Shedge for the past two years at the Vasoo Paranjape Cricket Centre in Mumbai, said the timing and location of the youngster’s maiden India call‑up could not have been more fitting.
“I was obviously very, very happy for him and more so because this tour of Ireland and England is just the kind of location suited for an all-rounder like Suryansh. It’s because the ball will do a little bit in the air and off the pitch and I feel also from a batting perspective, he will like these pitches.
“So I was very happy that the location is perfect for him. It’s important that when you’re making your debut, you need so many things to kind of go your way and one of them is the place where you’re making the debut. So, I am very, very excited about this,” he said.
On the two years of work behind the scenes gone into Shedge, Paranjape said the focus had been on refinement rather than reinvention. “A couple of technical things with his batting and his bowling we focused on. But overall, just trying to look better – he already had such a good record for Bombay. He won them a Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy on his own in 2024/25.
“So obviously very, very talented and you just need to be able to put these guys at ease a little bit mentally and kind of convey that you believe in them as much as they believe in themselves. So a lot of the work has been talking about the game in general, trying to get him there and me trying to understand how he thinks.
“Then it also involved sharing whatever experiences I have had in my cricketing career. Luckily, they kind of resonated with him and he had a good IPL. He had a good India A series in Sri Lanka and so, interesting times are ahead for him,” he said.
Much of that work, Paranjape, the co-founder of KheloMore and member of BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee, explained has revolved around simplifying the mental side of batting under pressure. “The fact that I’ve had similar experiences in my playing career and the solutions which I devised to handle them was something which I communicated to him.
“The more you keep it simple, it’s better as all the great players in the world keep it really, really simple. So we spoke about what is the kind of self-talk needed when he is actually facing every ball and keeping that self-talk consistent, simple, and repeatable. So there were small things like this which we worked on.
“We worked on some technical stuff like smoothening his flow of the bat a little bit. This is just the start of his career. Hopefully, I am able to understand him better as a cricketer, and as a person day by day and I can be supportive and be of assistance to him in the future as well,” he said.
With Shreyas Iyer captaining the T20I side and Shubman Gill leading the ODI team, Paranjape backed Shedge to be well looked after whenever he gets his chance. “Not only Shreyas – let’s not forget that Shubman is also a very young captain. From what I have observed of Shubman very, very closely, he has great empathy as a captain.
“So if Suryansh plays in that playing eleven, I think Shubman will take care of him in a very, very good manner because as a young person himself, he will understand the butterflies, the tension, the nervous energy that happens when you play your first few games. So, I am actually very excited that Shubman will also be able to lead him.”
Asked whether Shedge would get into the ODI team later on the tour of England, Paranjape was optimistic. “Depending on the scenario, they might keep him in the team. That’s what I feel. But let’s see, they might just keep him around the squad, so to speak.”
Paranjape also acknowledged the sacrifices made by Shedge’s parents, Prashant and Priyadarshini, who also left her banking job, to enable his growth as a cricketer. “I have met his parents many, many times. So, the role as a coach is also to understand the support system very well.
“Here are two modern parents, who are fully supportive and they have been there for him. Suryansh has been in love with cricket right from a very young age and they have been supportive. My job is to also work with them to make sure that the right support systems are provided to the player,” he said.
Paranjape also spoke about the temperament that has stood out to him away from the cricket itself. “He has always been very, very grateful for all the chances he has got and that’s his personal nature. As you keep playing cricket, you realize that you are amongst the more fortunate people and he has been able to channelise that into gratitude, which is great to see.”
With Shedge now on his way to Ireland for his maiden India tour, Paranjape signed off on a deeply personal note by recalling his late father, one of Indian cricket’s esteemed coaches and mentors.
“I just wish my father had been alive to see this. He would have enjoyed it very much. I am trying to give Suryansh the same advice that I think he would have given to Suryansh. So, fingers crossed for a good debut for him.”
–IANS
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