After playing one of the best innings ever played by an Indian teenager in the U19 Asia Cup, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s stock continues to rise. According to the Google search trends of the year, his name suddenly skyrocketed in Google searches and even overtook Virat Kohli. Yet the young opener from Samastipur remains surprisingly undaunted.
Suryavanshi is still focusing on behind-the-scenes work. Speak after India’s dominant 234-run win over the UAE in the tournament opener, he said that preparation was the basis of his record-breaking stroke. “For me it was all about the preparation. We arrived a day early and had a really good practice before the game which helped a lot,” he said.
His approach to the innings was as balanced as it was destructive. “My plan was simple. I tried to bat as long as I could. As the wicket was new I spent the first ten balls trying to read it properly and once I understood the pace and the bounce I started to attack.”
What followed was an innings that will be remembered for a long time. Suryavanshi smashed 171 off 95 balls and hit 14 sixes, the most by any batsman in a single U19 innings. He raced to his fifty in 30 balls and reached his hundred in just 56. His partnership of 212 with Aaron George completely crushed the hosts and helped India to their highest ever total in U19 ODIs, a whopping 433 for 6.
Suryavanshi revealed that he is expanding the range of punches. “I’ve been working on my unorthodox shots in practice and even managed to hit a few today. I want to keep expanding my range,” he said.
He brushed away the chatter from behind the stumps as he batted. “I’m from Bihar and honestly, it doesn’t matter much out there. You always hear things from behind the stumps, but I was just focused on my own game,” he said.
“I see everything, I hear everything and sure, sometimes it makes me laugh, but it doesn’t really affect me,” commented Suryavanshi more searched on Google than Virat Kohli.
Chasing 434, UAE never recovered from the early blows and finished at 199 for 7. Suryavanshi’s knock is now the second-highest by an Indian in youth ODIs, behind Ambati Rayudu’s 177 in 2002, and marks him as one of the brightest young talents to watch.
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Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
December 12, 2025
