The India opener was asked about his bond with the teenage batter after the two gave India a blazing start in Wellington, and his answer made clear how the dressing room sees its role in the youngster's rise.

Record opening stand in Wellington

In the third T20I, Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Suryavanshi opened the batting together for India. In the first two matches of the series, Sanju Samson had opened, while Vaibhav, who had batted at number three and failed, was moved up to open in Wellington.

The move worked at once. The pair scored 118 runs in the powerplay and put together 133 runs off just 43 balls. Abhishek made 113 runs off 38 balls, while Vaibhav scored 45 runs off 19 balls.

The mentoring question after the match

After the match, former spinner Murali Kartik asked Abhishek about Vaibhav. Kartik pointed out that Yuvraj Singh is Abhishek's mentor, and said that from social media pictures and images it looked as if Abhishek had taken Vaibhav under his own wing, and asked whether that was true.

Abhishek replied that looking after the youngster is their responsibility. He said he had stated in an interview before that when a talent aged 15 or 16, the kind Indian cricket had never seen before, comes into the side and plays alongside them, it brings out an elder brother feeling in the senior players.

Right atmosphere, no pressure

Abhishek said that, being older than Vaibhav, it is the responsibility of all the seniors to make sure he gets the right things and the right atmosphere around him. He added that at that age, he and his peers were in school, in classes 11 and 12, and were also playing under-19 cricket, so he knows how much confidence good seniors can give a young player.

That support, he said, keeps a young player confident and makes him feel that he belongs in the side and has not arrived there all of a sudden. He added that whenever the team talks about it, the message is the same: Vaibhav should enjoy himself, and there should be no pressure on him, especially while batting.

A partnership built on freedom

The Wellington stand showed that approach in action, with both batters attacking from the first ball and giving India a flying start. For Abhishek, the innings was as much about the team environment as the runs, with the seniors backing the teenager to play his natural game without fear.