13-year-old Suryavanshi’s stellar performance takes India to the semi-finals of the Under-19 Asia Cup

13-year-old Suryavanshi’s stellar performance powered India into the semi-finals of the Under-19 Asia Cup. 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s exceptional talent powered India into the semi-finals of the Under-19 Asia Cup on Wednesday. Batting first, UAE lost wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for 137 in 44 overs.

For India, right-arm medium pacer Yudhjeet Guha took 3 for 15 while Chetan Sharma (2 for 27) and all-rounder Hardik Raj (2 for 28) took two wickets each. Openers Suryavanshi (76 off 46 balls) and Ayush Mhatre (67 off 51 balls) hit unbeaten half-centuries as India won the match in 16.1 overs. Suryavanshi caught people’s attention in the recent IPL auction where he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.10 crore. He thus became the youngest player to be included in the auction in the history of the league.

Left-handed Suryavanshi hit three fours and four sixes in his innings, while Mhatre hit four fours and as many sixes during his innings. Most of the 13-year-old Suryavanshi’s sixes came in the cow corner region.

India started their campaign in a disappointing manner, losing to arch-rivals Pakistan by 43 runs in their group opener, while they then beat Japan by 211 runs.

India will play Group B toppers Sri Lanka in the semi-finals, while Group A toppers Pakistan will take on Bangladesh on Friday. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka remained unbeaten in the group stage.