Anvay Dravid, Aaryavir Sehwag star as India U19 stun Australia

There was familiarity in the Indian dressing room at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot when the legendary batters Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid’s sons, Aaryavir Sehwag and Anvay Dravid, took centre stage and helped the Indian U-19 side win the curtailed contest against Australia.

The game was scheduled to begin at 9 in the morning, but the persistent rain delayed the proceedings. At one point, it seemed like the game would not even start, but the ground staff did a superb job of making the game happen as it was converted into a 20-over game per side.

Aaryavir Sehwag's opening 28 and Anvay Dravid's blistering 38 off 18 powered India to 182/6

It was expected that Aaryavir would open his account with a boundary in the very first over of the innings, as his father used to do in his prime. Even on the fourth delivery of the second over, the right-hander cracked his second boundary against Will Byrom.

Aaryavir continued his aggressive approach as he thumped Thomas Vaseo for another boundary to put up a strong opening stand of 45 runs. He was later dismissed for 28 runs off 26 balls, smashing five superb boundaries around the park.

Later, the wicket-keeper batter, Anvay Dravid, drilled a dashing knock of 38 runs off 18 balls at a strike rate of 211.11, thanks to two boundaries and three sixes. It was not the same sort of knock his ‘The Wall’ father, Rahul Dravid, used to play. But both of them surely impressed Virender Sehwag, who was present at the ground.

Yashbardhan Chauhan's fifty and Mohit Ulva's nerveless final over seal 7-run win over Australia U19

In the 20-over curtailed clash, India U19 posted a massive score of 182 runs for the loss of six wickets, after their openers contributed a 45-run opening partnership. Their number four, Yashbardhan Chauhan, smashed an aggressive knock of 54 runs off 34 balls at a strike rate of 158.82, thanks to five boundaries and two sixes.

Australia U19, in the chase, were restricted to 175 runs for the loss of seven wickets, losing the contest by seven runs. Their captain, Jack Czosnek, played a dominating knock of 55 runs off 27 balls, thanks to six boundaries and three sixes. But the lower order fell like a pack of cards, as Mohit Ulva gave away just three runs in the final over to seal the victory.

Brief Scores: India Under-19s 182 for 6 (Chauhan 54, Dravid 38, Brain 2-29) beat Australia Under-19s 175 for 7 (Czosnek 55, Neel 45, Barbulovic 40, Chauhan 2-28) by seven runs