Vihaan Malhotra scored an unbeaten centuryImage Credit source: Getty Images
Neither Vaibhav Suryavanshi nor captain Ayush Mhatre… The first century for India in the Under-19 World Cup 2026 was not scored by these star batsmen, but by the team’s vice-captain and middle-order batsman Vihaan Malhotra. From the Indian team, which has been performing consistently well in the tournament, not a single batsman could score a century in the league stage, but in the very first match of the Super Six round, vice-captain Vihaan ended the wait by scoring a brilliant century. Vihaan played an unbeaten inning of 107 runs against host Zimbabwe, on the basis of which Team India scored a strong score of 352 runs.
First century for India in the World Cup
in Bulawayo on Tuesday 27th January Indian team In its first match of the Super Six round, it faced host Zimbabwe. In this match the Indian team was batting first. After a fast start, when 3 wickets fell for 101 runs, Vihaan entered the crease and from here he took charge of the Indian innings and took it to a big score. During this, he also made a century partnership with Abhigyan Kundu.
During this, the left-handed batsman scored his first half-century in the tournament. Then in the 49th over, Vihaan converted it into a century by hitting an excellent four. To reach here he faced 104 balls. In this way Vihaan became the first Indian batsman to score a century in this Under-19 World Cup. He lasted till the last over and returned unbeaten after scoring 109 runs in 107 balls. His innings included 7 fours. On the basis of this inning of Vihaan, the Indian team scored 352 runs after losing 8 wickets.
Bright start for the top order
Earlier, the top order including Vaibhav Suryavanshi and captain Mhatre provided a fast start for Team India. Aaron George (23), Vaibhav Suryavanshi and captain Ayush Mhatre (21) batted brilliantly, due to which Team India completed 100 runs within 11 overs. During this, Vaibhav Suryavanshi (52) scored a half-century in just 24 balls but like the other two batsmen, he too could not convert his innings into a big score. However, the fast start they got played a big role in helping the Indian team reach a big score.