By the time Abhigyan Kundu pulled his helmet off and raised his bat in Dubai, Indian junior cricket had a new reference point.

A double century in a Youth ODI for the first time by an Indian.

On Tuesday, the 17-year-old wicketkeeper-batter smashed an unbeaten 209 against Malaysia in the Under-19 Asia Cup, turning a routine group match into a moment that will be replayed, debated and bookmarked in India’s junior cricket archives.

India finished on 408 for seven.

Batting at Number 5, the left-hander faced just 125 balls, striking 19 fours and seven sixes, and stayed unbeaten till the end.

Only South Africa’s Jorich van Schalkwyk has scored more in the format, his 215 coming earlier this year.

Kundu is now second on that list, and first among Indians.

The innings also came at a tournament where records have been falling thick and fast. Earlier, teammate Vaibhav Suryavanshi had scored a 95-ball 171 against the UAE, the ninth-highest individual score in Youth ODIs.

A Mumbai boy with deep roots and deeper numbers

His father, Abhishek Kundu, works with TCS, and cricket entered Abhigyan’s life early.

He was five when he first picked up a bat.

Training under coach Chetan Jadhav at the Avinash Salvi Foundation, Kundu is said to have faced between 5,000 and 10,000 balls a day in his formative years.

By 13, he had scored over 21,000 runs across formats, with 70 centuries.

By 2022, those numbers had swollen to 28,000-plus runs and 93 hundreds, earning him a place in the India Book of Records as the highest run-scorer globally in the Under-16 category.

There are outliers, and then there is the 408 not out he smashed in the Maharashtra U16 & U19 Premier League, a quadruple century off 145 balls, featuring 37 fours and 36 sixes.

Seventy per cent of his team’s total that day came off his bat.

Making his mark in India colours

Kundu’s international Under-19 journey has followed a steady, upward curve.

He debuted in Youth Tests against Australia before making a decisive impression in the Youth ODI leg of that tour.

In Brisbane, chasing 225, he walked in under pressure and finished on 87 not out off 74 balls, earning Player of the Match. Another unbeaten fifty followed as India wrapped up the series 3-0.

By the time the Asia Cup arrived, Kundu had already built a reputation as a finisher who could accelerate without losing shape.

Against Pakistan earlier in the tournament, he made a crucial 22 and stitched a stabilising partnership after India slipped to 113 for four.

He kept wicket with assurance too, effecting stumping and pouching catches.

Then came Malaysia, and a chance to go long.

The 209 not out, scored at a strike rate north of 160, made him the first Indian to breach the double-hundred mark in Youth ODIs.

Kundu’s batting blends elegance with intent. He is comfortable shifting gears, adept against spin, and strong through the off side. As a wicketkeeper, he is tidy and increasingly vocal.

Comparisons have already begun, with some calling him a left-handed version of M.S. Dhoni. Kundu himself cites Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar as batting influences, while aspiring to Dhoni’s leadership and glovework.

He has also served as vice-captain of the India U-19 side.