Indian cricket aficionados were keeping tabs on India A's clash against Sri Lanka A on Tuesday, June 9, especially because it was Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's first stint after his heroics in the IPL (Indian Premier League). However, the southpaw failed to replicate that stunning form as he was dismissed for 14 off 12 balls at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in the opening match of the tri-Nation series, also featuring Afghanistan A.
After Tilak Varma won the toss and opted to bat first, Sooryavanshi
walked out to open alongside Prabhsimran Singh. The 15-year-old batting prodigy did get off to a quickfire start, hitting three boundaries in his first 11 balls. However, 31-year-old Sri Lankan pacer Mohamed Shiraz, who has played two ODIs so far, dismissed Sooryavanshi on the fourth ball of the fourth over.
The right-arm seamer bowled a full delivery, which Sooryavanshi tried to hit down the ground. However, the bat turned in his hand, and the ball flew towards mid-off. Sri Lankan captain Sahan Arachchige put in a dive and caught the ball inches above the ground to break the hearts of the Indian fans.
Sooryavanshi hasn't played too much List A cricket so far. In fact, this was only his ninth List A match. In his previous eight matches in the 50-over format, the Bihar batter had scored 353 runs at an average of 44.12 and a strike rate of 164.95. Sooryavanshi will get to play at least three more matches on this tour, and one more if India A make it to the final. This will be his final assignment before he links up with the Indian senior men's team that will travel to the United Kingdom to play two T20Is against Ireland in June, followed by five against England next month.
While he couldn't come good on Tuesday, Sooryavanshi would look to get among the runs in the following matches and build some momentum heading into his first stint in international cricket.
