Manchester, July 3 -- India bowling coach Morne Morkel has defended the team management's decision to delay Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's international debut, stressing the importance of backing experienced and in-form players in the current setup.

Morkel pointed to Abhishek Sharma's status as India's leading T20 batter and Sanju Samson's standout role as Player of the World Cup.

"I think we just need to respect the fact that we've got the number one batter, or we had our number one batter in T20 cricket, Abhishek Sharma. You know, Sanju was the player of the World Cup," Morkel told reporters ahead of the second T20I.

Morkel acknowledged the excitement surrounding young Sooryavanshi but stressed that it is important to give confidence and sec...