Bangladesh U-19 all-rounder Rizan Hossan has declared war with India U-19 as he demanded a repeat of last year’s final in the ongoing Under-19 Asia Cup 2025. Rizan Hossan has also sent a stern warning to India’s batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
Hossan has made it clear that the Bangladesh U-19 team is fully prepared to keep Vaibhav Suryavanshi silent when they face the India U-19 side in the tournament. The seam-bowling all-rounder, who played a key role in Bangladesh’s title-winning run last year, believes that his side has enough match-winners to handle the teenage powerhouse.
Bangladesh plan to silence Vaibhav Suryavanshi again
Notably, Bangladesh had already thrashed India at the Under-19 Asia Cup 2024 final, where Suryavanshi was dismissed for just 9 runs after they executed their plans against him with precision. Now, ahead of their first game in the tournament, Rizan insisted that his team has the firepower to stop Vaibhav Suryavanshi again and defend their title.
The 14-year-old batting sensation has been in stunning form across the formats this season. He recently lit up Eden Gardens during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 by smashing an unbeaten 108 off only 61 balls, featuring seven fours and seven sixes for Bihar.
With this knock, the left-handed batter became the youngest player ever to score a century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, proving that age is no barrier to his talent. And now on Friday, December 12, Vaibhav smashed another century (171) to kick off this edition in style.
We have players who can stop him: Rizan Hossan
But the Bangladesh team remains unfazed, as Rizan stressed that the team believes strongly in each other, just like they did during last year’s title-winning campaign.
Rizan Hossan was quoted as saying by the Times of India: “Why not? (On stopping Suryavanshi). We have star players on the side. Every single player on the side is a match-winner. We all backed each other in every moment last year, and that’s why we went on to win the title. I am confident Bangladesh will win their second title on the trot this year.”
The young all-rounder added, “Vaibhav Suryavanshi is a star cricketer. We have seen his performances in recent times. He is in brilliant form. But we have players who can stop him. We just want to go to the middle and perform our best. Last year’s celebration is still alive for all of us. We still feel that moment. But that is the past now. This is a fresh journey, and I am confident that Bangladesh will come out with flying colors.”
We only want to face India in the final: Rizan Hossan
He reiterated that they want India in the Under-19 Asia Cup 2025 final, and they want to beat them again. Hossan signed off by saying, “I am confident Bangladesh will reach the final. The only team we want to face in the final is India, and we want to beat them again.”
Before facing India in the next round, Bangladesh must beat Group B opponents Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. India U-19 is currently facing UAE in the tournament opener, and they are set for a big win over the hosts at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai.