Another day, another record for Vaibhav Suryavanshi! The 14-year-old opener lit up the India vs UAE U-19 clash with a stroke-filled century.
He reached his fifty in just 30 balls and then completed his ton in 56 balls. There was no stopping Suryavanshi, as he raced to the 150-mark off 84 balls. He ultimately departed for 171 after slamming 14 sixes. He broke two Asian records during the course of the innings. Before him, Afghanistan’s Darwish Rasooli had hit 10 sixes in an innings against UAE in an U-19 Asia Cup match in 2017. But now, Suryavanshi holds the record for the most sixes in an innings in the U-19 Asia Cup. He also broke another Asian record – most sixes overall in the U-19 Asia Cup. Rasooli (22) held that record earlier. Suryavanshi’s tally is now 26.
Suryavanshi’s 171 is the second-highest score by an Indian in U-19 ODIs after Ambati Rayudu’s 177* against England in 2002.
While the India U-19 side, under the able leadership of dashing Mumbai and CSK opener Mhatre, started its campaign against UAE on Friday, it is the match against Pakistan on Sunday that will certainly gain the most traction in the junior continental championship – seen as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup early next year.
In the senior men’s Asia Cup, followed by the Women’s ODI World Cup and the Rising Stars Asia Cup T20 tournament, Indian players have refused to shake hands with Pakistani players as a mark of solidarity with the Indian Army and victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
However, when it comes to the U-19 cricketers, it is believed that even the ICC wants politics to be kept away from the game and the normal protocol of sportsmanship should be adhered to.
“The boys haven’t been told anything. But obviously, BCCI has given explicit instructions to its manager Anand Datar. Now, if Indian boys don’t shake hands with the Pakistan team, then the match referee will have to be informed in advance.
We know for a fact that ICC doesn’t want politics to take the front seat when it comes to junior cricket. So it is a case of both bad optics and public sentiment,” a BCCI official in the know of things told PTI on the condition of anonymity