On Friday, the 15-year-old Sooryavanshi produced a sensational 175 that helped India hammer England by 100 runs in the final and seal a record sixth title.
File Photo: IANS
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s match-winning performance in the U19 World Cup final against England was the product of a long-term preparation cycle, with the teenager pointing to months of structured work and growing trust in his skillset as the key to handling pressure on the biggest stage.
On Friday, the 15-year-old Sooryavanshi produced a sensational 175 that helped India hammer England by 100 runs in the final and seal a record sixth title. His extraordinary 80-ball knock was studded with 15 fours and 15 sixes. It was a performance befitting the biggest stage and the latest milestone in Sooryavanshi’s rapidly rising career.
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Already regarded as one of the brightest young batting talents in the country, Sooryavanshi added a major final century to a growing list of achievements that includes hundreds in the IPL and for India A. His dominance throughout the tournament saw him finish with 439 runs at a staggering strike rate of 169.49, earning him the Player of the Tournament award and placing him alongside Indian greats such as Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara, who have previously won the honour.
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“I can’t express how I am feeling,” Sooryavanshi said. “All the preparation, all the support staff have put in for all the games have brought us to this stage. I would like to dedicate this award to them.
“For the last eight or nine months, all of us have been working together, and the preparation started way before the Asia Cup. That has helped us to where we are now. I have grown to become very confident in the skillset I have developed, and I know I can perform in big games under pressure,” he added.
India captain Ayush Mhatre, who shared a match-defining 142-run second-wicket partnership with Sooryavanshi, hailed the young opener’s innings as one for the ages. Mhatre contributed 53 and later had the honour of lifting the trophy.
“It is a memorable moment for us in our cricketing journey,” Mhatre said.
“The boys played very well. We played our natural game, and I am very happy. We have no words for him (Sooryavanshi) as a player or that innings. We know he is a fabulous batsman, and he has shown what he can do.
“We are happy to carry on the legacy. Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet have won the World Cup, and now we have too. I will really miss this group of players, we will not play again in the same team, but we will carry forward the memories, this attitude and play this kind of cricket into the future,” Mhatre added.
England entered the final unbeaten but was left with an imposing target following Sooryavanshi’s onslaught. Despite a valiant chase led by Caleb Falconer’s century and Ben Dawkins’ 66, the total proved too steep.
England captain Thomas Rew acknowledged the challenge posed by the Indian opener. “It is always going to be tough when a player like that gets going,” Rew said.
“He has shown us what he can do before, and we were scratching our heads a bit at times. We did our research, we wanted to use our change ups and stick to the top of the stumps, but today Vaibhav came off and fair play to him.
“It was a great effort from our batters, Caleb played an unbelievable inning, and it is a testament to the mindset to go out and try and chase that. At the break, we were really excited about going out there, playing our shots, and having fun. We didn’t get over the line but we showed some great fight,” he added.
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