After India’s semi-final triumph over Afghanistan on Wednesday, a WhatsApp notification rang on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s phone. It was from his childhood mentor Manish Ojha.
“You batted brilliantly but missed out on a century,” read the message. “In almost every tournament you have graced, except the Ranji Trophy, you have scored at least one century.
U19 World Cup Final: Highlights | Scorecard
This was not a weight that would crush the 14-year-old, just forty-eight hours before his first ICC final. Ojha, who had first noticed the bold move in the grainy videos sent from Samastipur, knew exactly how to handle his charge. It wasn’t pressure; it was a nudge.
“Not in a way that would put pressure on him. I just reminded him of his own standards and past records. After sending the message, he replied, ‘Yes sir.’ Later I thought if it might put pressure on the young player, but given the level he is playing at and his maturity, I felt he could handle it easily. I didn’t send any more messages after that,” Manish told IndiaToday.in.
Sooryavanshi lives in a world of high expectations. Like a teenage Sachin Tendulkar, the cricketing public considers 60 or 70 a failure. By these punishing standards, Vaibhav endured a quiet World Cup – 2, 72, 40, 52, 30 and 68, leading to a showdown at the Harare Sports Club.
On Friday, however, the child prodigy became a predator.
England’s attack dismantled a master class with 175 runspunctuated by 15 sixes and as many boundaries. It was a brutal exhibition that exposed the gulf between Sooryavanshi and his peers. While the world already knew about the boy who got an IPL contract at 13 and smashed a 35-ball ton for Rajasthan Royals, this was his definitive statement on the global stage.
He sent England’s young bowlers hunting for leather, exposing the ever-widening gulf between him and the rest of the field that emerged at the Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe.
The knock sealed India’s sixth Under-19 World Cup crown as their record 411 proved too steep a climb for England, who went down by 100 runs.
The cricketing world knew about Vaibhav’s talent even before the Under-19 World Cup started – a platform where most could apply. Already at the age of 13, he got a contract in the Indian Premier League.
A precocious breaker of the record books, Vaibhav declared himself with a historic U19 Test century off 58 balls against Australia and a record IPL debut at the age of 14. The left-hander then combined a blistering 35-ball IPL hundred with a dominant 59-ball List A 150 and arrived at the 2026 World Cup as the world’s most feared phenomenon.
Still, when he failed to turn starts into really big hits during the tournament, a few voices found their way into the camp of doubters.
Vaibhav quickly converted them back into believers.
“What Vaibhav did today was extraordinary. He almost put on a one-man show and scored 175. He hit 15 fours and 15 sixes. I don’t think an individual player has hit so many sixes and fours in any World Cup final. That in itself will be a record,” said a proud Manish. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed 15 sixes with 175 runs in U19 World Cup final (Getty Images)
DIRECT ATTACK ON ENGLAND
Vaibhav started the U19 World Cup final cautiously, fully aware that he had 50 overs at his disposal. After winning the toss and electing to bat in Harare on Friday morning, India lost semi-final centurion Aaron George prematurely. Vaibhav controlled his natural instincts, respected the new bowlers and adjusted to the bounce. He moved to 15 off 17 balls before blasting out.
He was merciless against both spin and pace and gave England’s bowlers no time to breathe. At one point the coaches in the England camp looked tired, like they were watching a ghost in the middle of the night. India cruised past 200 in less than 25 overs, buoyed by one of Vaibhav’s most exciting yet calculated knocks.
In the eighth over, Vaibhav dropped James Mint’s left-arm stimulator and hammered a boundary for a six and a three to signal take-off. He had struggled with his left-arm pace earlier in the tournament, but he was clear on Friday. He was ready to attack what was perceived to be one of the few chinks in his armor.
Farhan Ahmed. Off-spinner. 17. through. Three sixes and a boundary.
Alex Green. Right arm stimulator. 21. through. Two sixes and a boundary.
Raphine Albert. Spreader on left hand. 22. through. She smacks her lips. Two sixes and three boundaries.
Sebastian Morgan. Right arm middle pacemaker. 25. through. Two sixes and two boundaries.
Vaibhav reached his hundred in 55 balls and plundered another 75 runs in just 25 more overs. India still had 24 overs left when he was dismissed. He could have stayed on and become the first batsman to score a double hundred in an ICC men’s tournament final, but a spin shot against pace-slowing medium pacer Manny Lumsden for spin.
On another day, Vaibhav would have blasted it into the stands and run towards the double. However, that was not the day.
He left to a standing ovation. The adversaries he tortured lined up to pat him on the back and shake his hand. They knew they were witnessing something special. Vaibhav knew that too.
However, his coach was left with mixed feelings.
“I am very proud, though a bit disappointed that he missed out on a double hundred by just 25 runs. He was so close. With another 10-12 balls, he could have easily crossed 200,” he said.
The 25-run deficit stings, but Manish remains a proud man, aware of how far his charge has come.
WHAT WAS DIFFERENT IN VAIBHAV’S 175?
Once, when Manish asked Vaibhav to defend a serve in the nets, the teenager shot back: ‘When the ball is there to hit, why defend it?’ That instinct remains but is now paired with an understanding of pace and match situation. Contempt for pitchers doesn’t change; the award for time spent at the goal is new.
“If you look at last year, whenever he played, he often got around a hundred. But as he played more matches – whether it was in the BCCI tournaments, the Rising Star Asia Cup, the tour of Australia, England and now South Africa and Zimbabwe – his maturity level has increased.
“Now he bats according to the situation. And when he gets a set and makes a hundred, it’s no small feat. He continues to score more than 150 goals. He has become more selective and takes his shots much better. If you look at his six shots compared to before, almost every game one or two balls go outside the stadium. That shows a clear development,” he said.
Vaibhav has proved his mettle in all-age cricket, senior domestic cricket and IPL. The 14-year-old showed off his appetite everywhere. He even surpassed senior regulars like Jitesh Sharma to top India’s batting charts at the Rising Stars Asia Cup last year, scoring 239 runs in four T20 matches at a strike rate of 233.
He finished the U19 World Cup with 439 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 169. During his title-winning 175 against England, he became India’s highest run-getter at U19 level, surpassing Vijay Zola’s 1404 runs. Vaibhav now has 1,414 runs in 25 matches at an average of 56 per innings.
TIME FOR VAIBHAV’S INDIA CALL?
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Manish believes his charge is ready for the senior national team, even if the opportunity arises during the upcoming T20 World Cup, which begins on February 7.
“I said about a year-and-a-half ago – that he should be in the Indian team within one-and-a-half to two years. His intensity, intent and aggressive approach are the same, irrespective of the tournament. He dominates the bowler and plays winning innings.”
“He is absolutely ready now. BCCI should seriously consider him. With the T20 World Cup coming up, if any player is unavailable or injured, Vaibhav should get an immediate opportunity, even as a replacement,” he said.
At 14, Vaibhav is rewriting scripts and proving that the sky is the limit.
Still, even to the man who first spotted him, the speed of his ascent was a surprise.
“There was never any doubt about his talent. We always knew he was a special player and he would do well. But to perform like this, so fast and on such big platforms, with such an explosive strokeplay – I didn’t set my expectations so high so early,” Manish said.
The world came to Harare to find the next big thing. They left realizing that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s future had already arrived.
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
February 6, 2026
