"He showed maturity": Ayush Mhatre praises Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after vital knock at U19 World Cup

Bulawayo [Zimbabwe], January 18 (ANI): India captain Ayush Mhatre hailed the professionalism on display from his star hitter Vaibhav Suryavanshi after he contributed a vital (72 off 67) for India as they edged past Bangladesh to maintain their unbeaten start at the ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup and take command of Group B, detailing how he was able to handle the high pressure moment with aplomb.
Mhatre-led India registered a thrilling 18-run win over Bangladesh after the second innings was reduced to 29 overs due to rain in the seventh match of the ongoing ICC U19 World Cup 2026 on Saturday. With this win, India registered their second consecutive win in the ongoing tournament.
"(Suryavanshi) showed the maturity that he's got and just batted really brilliantly. He showed patience also; the team needed him to stay there, so he stayed in," said Mhatre as per the ICC website.
"It was initially tough conditions because there was some stickiness in the wicket and the ball was coming a little bit (on the) slower side, back of the length, so there was some difficulty. But the way that (Abhigyan Kundu and Suryavanshi) batted, and (later in) the innings, (Kanishk Chouhan) batted well," he added.
India made 238 runs batting first, with three key contributions with the bat. And despite rain impacting Bangladesh's run chase, forcing the implementation of the DLS method and a revised target of 165 from 29 overs, India did enough to hold on for a victory. The Tigers were all out for 146 off 28.3 overs.
Kundu anchored India's batting innings with 80 off 112, perfectly complementing Vaibhav's more aggressive approach. The pair produced a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket to help lay strong foundations, while Chouhan's 28 off 26 helped with the finishing touches from their 50 overs.
"(Kundu) is batting really well in this tournament, and is in form also, so it's really nice for us that he's batting really brilliantly and scoring some runs for our team," Mhatre continued.
"It really was a terrific victory from our boys; it was really big. We just play our game, we're not thinking much (about that game yet), just (about) playing our cricket," Mhatre concluded.
India can now rest up for the best part of a week, with their next contest scheduled for January 24 against New Zealand at Bulawayo. (ANI)