Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's 175 powers India to record sixth U-19 World Cup title

By the time dusk settled over Harare on Friday, the scoreboard had delivered its verdict. India’s towering 411/9 stood 100 runs beyond England’s grasp as the U-19 team sealed a record sixth U-19 World Cup title in a final that yielded 722 runs and featured two monumental centuries.As the stumps cast their shadows, adolescence quietly packed its bags and a group of boys turned into men. Not forged in the pomp of celebration, but in the sterner understanding that the game would now ask more of them and that they were ready for the challenges ahead.

For India, this title was sealed with nerve and verve, arriving like a familiar tune played with renewed conviction. At the heart of their epochal triumph stood a 14-year-old opener with the calmness of a veteran and the violence of a raging tornado.Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 175 off 80 deliveries didn’t just light up the final, it knocked the daylights out of England. It was an innings so brutal, so staggering that it will be remembered for long.He received support from captain Ayush Mhatre, whose 51-ball 53 was the cornerstone of a 142-run second-wicket partnership. Vihaan Malhotra (30) and Abhigyan Kundu (40) chipped in with useful contributions, before Kanishk Chouhan detonated at the death, plundering 35 runs in the final three overs to propel India past the 400-run mark.

Most 14-year-olds procrastinate and panic about exams. Vaibhav is busy terrorising bowlers, scoring centuries and winning World Cups. Teens chase wi-fi, he chases records. While most 14-year-olds negotiate curfews at homes, Vaibhav negotiates field settings with ease.His carnage in the final was the stuff of legend and myth. A staggering 150 of his runs came in boundaries —15 fours and 15 sixes — another record emphatically stamped at this level.

Every strike felt like a statement; every swing an announcement.

Vaibhav’s knock against England at the U-19 World Cup 2026 final is the highest individual score in a summit clash — or any knockout match — in Youth ODIs. A trivial footnote on the day that cared little for numbers.Yet, England refused to fold quietly. In a chase that demanded audacity, England opener Ben Dawkins set the early tone with a fluent 66, but England were always behind the game.

When wickets began to tumble and the chase wobbled at 177/7, Caleb Falconer took centre stage with defiance and invention — reverse-sweeping, cutting, pulling and scooping with a freedom that momentarily unsettled India.Falconer’s 67-ball 115 injected belief into England’s dressing room and forced India to earn every inch of the victory. For a fleeting passage, the impossible flickered. But 412 was simply beyond reach.Mhatre, the Indian captain, held this team together with the authority of someone who understands that leadership at this level is less about speeches and more about removing the excesses.“We have no words for his (Vaibhav’s) innings. We know he is a fabulous batter and he’s shown in this match what he can do. We just wanted to carry forward the legacy. Rohit Sharma won the World Cup, Harmanpreet also and now we have won it,” he beamed.In Harare, under a sky that has seen plenty of cricketing ambition come and go, India’s latest batch of young cricketers announced themselves emphatically. By sundown, India had pocketed another ICC trophy. Vaibhav had earned something more profound: a coming-of-age story written in sixes.