India upheld their ‘no-handshake’ policy against Pakistan at the toss for their U-19 Asia Cup match on Sunday. At the ICC Academy grounds, India captain Ayush Mhatre and his Pakistani counterpart Farhan Yousaf avoided interaction during the toss.
Pakistan won the toss and chose to field first, with India scoring 240 all out in 46.1 overs. Both teams began their tournament campaigns with victories.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was unable to assert his growing prowess against Pakistan, being dismissed for 5 runs off 6 balls on Sunday (December 14). Opening the innings alongside Ayush Mhatre after being asked to bat first at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai, Sooryavanshi started with an early boundary. However, on the second ball of the fourth over, left-arm
pacer Mohammad Sayyam delivered a ball on middle and off, which Sooryavanshi punched back to the bowler, who caught it with both hands.
Earlier, India dominated the hosts UAE, winning by 234 runs in the tournament opener on Friday, with Vaibhav Suryavanshi scoring a match-winning 171 off 95 balls. On the same day, Pakistan defeated Malaysia by 297 runs.
Suryavanshi set a U-19 record with 14 sixes, reaching his fifty in 30 balls and his century in 56. He formed a dominant 212-run partnership with Aaron George. Vihaan Malhotra and George each scored 69 runs. UAE struggled in their chase, collapsing to 48/5 early before fifties from Prithvi Madhu and an unbeaten Uddish Suri helped them reach 199/7 in their 50 overs.
“I don’t pay attention to these things. I keep the focus on my game. Yes, I do hear about these developments and it does feel nice. I look at it, feel good about it and then move forward,” Vaibhav said during the post-match presentation.
