Vaibhav Suryavanshi could not sleep before his last U-19 World Cup final due to BCCI rules. He scored a record 175 runs in 80 balls under pressure and helped India win the title for the sixth time.
Harare: India’s young star Vaibhav Suryavanshi told that he could not sleep the night before the Under-19 World Cup final. In an interview given to ‘Ray Sports’, Vaibhav said that he lost his sleep thinking that this would be his last match in the World Cup and he would never be able to play in this tournament again.
We wanted to see the final match like a ‘normal match’, but it could not happen. I couldn’t sleep the night before the match. I might not have slept properly even for an hour. Because no matter how hard we tried, there was always a pressure on us. Maybe in the future I will get a chance to play the World Cup for India at the senior level, but I will never get the chance to play the Under-19 World Cup again. Vaibhav said that this is a memorable moment for any player.
If we look at age, Vaibhav has a chance to play two more Under-19 World Cups (2028, 2030). But BCCI’s ‘one-tournament’ rule will become a hindrance to Vaibhav’s chances of glory here. According to BCCI policy, if a player plays the Under-19 World Cup once, he will not be selected for the same tournament again. BCCI has strictly enforced this rule since 2016 to eliminate age fraud at the junior level. Its objective was to give opportunities to more players and also to discover new talents. The board’s aim was to motivate players to progress to the senior level rather than producing players who were restricted to the under-19 level only. Therefore, Vaibhav will not get a place in the team in the Under-19 World Cup to be held in 2028. BCCI started strictly enforcing this rule from 2016. This suggestion was given by former Indian player and coach Rahul Dravid.
Vaibhav made the only Under-19 World Cup final of his career memorable. By scoring 175 runs in 80 balls, Vaibhav made the record of the highest individual score in a final in the history of ICC tournament. Vaibhav completed his century in 55 balls. India won the title for the sixth time by defeating England by 100 runs in the final held yesterday.