Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 13-year-old sensation from Rajasthan Royals (RR), made headlines by smashing five sixes and scoring a brilliant 76 off just 36 balls, propelling India to the final of the U19 Asia Cup

Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the prodigal 13-year-old cricketer, finds himself at the centre stage of the ongoing U19 Asia Cup. He has already become part of history as the youngest sign-up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he was purchased for Rajasthan Royals for INR 1.1 crore. It is now that the left-handed opening is proved to be a vital and effective player in India’s victory of reaching the semi finals from Sri Lanka, which they took the chance to reach the finale.

On Friday, in the semi-final against Sri Lanka, Vaibhav played a blistering knock of 67 runs off just 36 balls, which led India to a dominating seven-wicket win with 170 balls remaining. He had got his half-century off only 24 balls, and his innings included six boundaries and five sixes. Aggressive start from Vaibhav helped India score 31 runs in the second over and set the tone for the chase. His carefree stroke play ensured that India chased down the modest total of 174 without much trouble.

Though his U19 Asia Cup tour began with low scores of 1 and 23 in the opening matches against Pakistan and Japan, Vaibhav redeemed himself by an unbeaten 76 in the group-stage match against UAE. He further supplemented this by good bowling in the semi-final in which India bowled out Sri Lanka for only 173 in 47 overs. Chetan Sharma picked up three wickets and Kiran Chormale and Ayush Mhatre shared two wickets each.

India chased down the target of 174 in just 25.3 overs, with Vaibhav’s 67 leading the chase. Ayush Mhatre added to the scorecard with a knock of 34, while Mohammed Amaan (26) and KP Karthikeya (11) remained not out.
India will face Bangladesh in the U19 Asia Cup final on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.