Vaibhav Suryavanshi will be the cynosure when India A take on Pakistan Shaheens in the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha on Sunday.
The 14-year-old has successfully carried his big-hitting skills from the IPL to the international arena. In India A’s opening match of the tournament, against UAE, the left-handed batter smashed the joint third-fastest T20 century by an Indian.
His innings of 144 off just 42 balls against the UAE was packed with 11 boundaries and 15 sixes. That means 134 of his 144 runs came from boundaries. Against arch-rivals
Pakistan, the youngster would be even more eager to make
a statement.
But Suryavanshi’s adventurous cricket comes with the risk of needless dismissals and he will have to be alert, because the Pakistan Shaheens attack is surely much more potent than that of the UAE.
But India A, captained by keeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, have other quality batters who can prove dangerous for the opposition even if Suryavanshi has an off day. The likes
of Priyansh Arya, Naman Dhir and Ashutosh Sharma can be equally destructive
in T20s, thanks to their IPL experience.
Pakistan Shaheens had also won their first match, defeating Oman. In Maaz Sadaqat, they too have a batter who can quickly take the game away with his big-hitting. Sadaqat hit 96 not out off 54 balls against Oman.
India are likely to continue with their ‘no-handshake’ policy with Pakistan.