Vaibhav Suryavanshi produced yet another swashbuckling knock to power India to a massive 234-run win over UAE in the U-19 Asia Cup in Dubai on Friday.
Vaibhav smashed a blistering 95-ball 171 and just fell short of Ambati Rayudu’s long-standing India record in youth one-dayers. Rayudu had hammered 177 against England in Taunton way back in 2002. Vaibhav was not even born when Rayudu had set Taunton on fire. Vaibhav was born in 2011.
Vaibhav, who is yet to turn 15 years, hit nine fours and 14 sixes during his innings, before being bowled attempting a paddle in the 33rd over of the innings. They eventually finished with 433 for 6 after being put into bat. In response, UAE could only manage 199 for 7, leading to a 234-run win for India and a Player of the Match award for Vaibhav.
UAE won the toss and made the mistake of asking India to bat first. Though opener and skipper Ayush Mhatre (4) fell with only eight on the board, Vaibhav and Hyderabad’s Aaron George got together and put the rival attack to the sword with Vaibhav doing the most damage. George was willing to play second fiddle to the rampaging Vaibhav. The ploy worked as the UAE bowlers were left clueless.
They struck a 212-run partnership for the second wicket before George fell for a 73-ball 69 with seven fours and a six. Vaibhav, however, didn’t last long as he fell after scoring 171. Vihaan Malhotra and Vedant Trivedi continued the onslaught with an 88-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Vedant fell for 38 and Vihan departed for 69 (55b; 7×4, 1×6). Abhigyan Kundu (32) and Kanishk Chouhan (28) chipped in with some quick runs as India ran up 433 for six.
In reply, UAE were never in the race and were reduced to 199 for seven. No.8 batter Uddish Suri struck an unbeaten 78 and No.5 Prithvi Madhu scored 50.
Breakthrough 2025 for Vaibhav
Last month, Vaibhav had smashed a 42-ball 144 – the joint third-fastest century by an Indian in men’s T20s – against UAE at the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha. He had got to his century off 32 deliveries that day, in the process recording the joint-sixth-fastest century in all men’s T20s.
Vaibhav – a certainty to feature in next month’s U-19 World Cup in Namibia and Zimbabwe – also recently slammed an unbeaten 108 off 61 balls in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to become the youngest century-maker in the tournament’s history.
He had a breakthrough year in 2025, when he became the youngest to slam an IPL century, for Rajasthan Royals (101 off 38 balls) against Gujarat Titans. Having made history just a few months earlier – by becoming the youngest pick in an IPL auction at 13 – Suryavanshi featured in seven games in the 2025 edition, all as an opener. He made 252 runs at a strike rate of 206.55.
After IPL 2025, he was part of the India Under-19 squads that toured England and Australia. He smashed a 78-ball century in the first four-day fixture in Brisbane and finished as the second-highest run-getter of the multi-day series against Australia Under-19s, scoring 133 runs in three innings as India won 2-0.
Prior to that, he had amassed at a strike rate of 174.01 in the one-dayers against England Under-19s.
Brief scores: India U-19: 433/6 in 50 overs (Vaibhav Suryavanshi 171, Aaron George 69, Vihaan Malhotra 69, Vedant Trivedi 38, Abhigyan Kundu 32 no, Kanishk Chouhan 28; Yug Sharma 2-75, Uddish Suri 2/77) bt UAE 199/7 in 50 overs (Uddish Suri 78, Prithvi Madhu 50; Deepesh Devendran 2/21).
