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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi created history on Thursday (July 23) by becoming the youngest cricketer in the world to score a half-century in international cricket.
At just 15 years and 118 days old, Vaibhav broke the previous record held by Nepal batter Kushal Malla. Malla had achieved the milestone at the age of 15 years and 340 days when he scored 50 runs off 51 balls against the United States in an ODI at Kirtipur on February 8, 2020.
Vaibhav’s achievement also surpassed the record of India great Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar was previously the youngest Indian batter to score an international fifty, having made 59 runs against Pakistan in a Test match at Faisalabad in November 1989 when he was 16 years and 213 days old.
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With this remarkable innings, Vaibhav has added his name to an elite list and become one of the youngest players ever to achieve a major milestone in international cricket.
Notably, Sooryavanshi scored 50 runs off 19 balls before getting dismissed by Richard Ngarava during India's 126-run chase.
Zimbabwe's performance vs India
India's fast bowlers, led by Mayank Yadav, put Zimbabwe under pressure from the very first over as the home team managed only 125 for 7 in the opening T20I of the three-match series on Thursday.
Mayank made an excellent start, taking two wickets for 18 runs. He removed opener Brian Bennett for a duck and later dismissed Dion Myers for just six. Prince Yadav also impressed with figures of 2 for 19, sending back opener Ben Curran. Zimbabwe quickly slipped to 20 for 3, and things got even worse when captain Sikandar Raza was dismissed, leaving the team reeling at 32 for 4.
After losing four early wickets, Zimbabwe could not recover. Although the middle and lower order tried to steady the innings, they were unable to build any big partnerships and finished with a below-par total of 125 for 7. India, meanwhile, came into the match looking to return to winning ways after losing their recent T20I series against Ireland and England.
Before the match, teenage batting talent Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was included in India's playing XI, while fast bowler Ashok Sharma made his international debut.
India also introduced a new approach by naming role-specific concussion substitutes before the game. The list included Suryansh Shedge as a batting all-rounder, Prabhsimran Singh as the wicketkeeper, Harsh Dubey as the spin-bowling option, and Yash Thakur as the pace-bowling replacement.