NEW DELHI: Teen batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi will look to keep the Pakistan Shaheens attack on edge as India A, led by Jitesh Sharma, takes the field in a Rising Stars Asia Cup T20 clash in Doha on Sunday. The team is expected to continue the BCCI's 'No Handshake' policy against their arch-rivals.
During the Asia Cup in September, India's T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav had refused to shake hands with Salman Ali Agha, in a gesture of solidarity for the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Following in his senior's footsteps, Jitesh Sharma, who was the second wicketkeeper in that tournament and is captaining India A in the ongoing event, is also expected to skip the handshake with Pakistan Shaheens skipper Irfan Khan-both at the toss and after the match.
Record-breaking Vaibhav Suryavanshi shows why he's India's next big thing
However, the cynosure of all attention will be Suryavanshi, the 14-year-old, who had taken world cricket by storm with a century during the last edition of the IPL. He smashed an incredible 144 off 52 balls with 15 sixes against UAE and became the youngest Indian batter to score a hundred in senior international representative (A team) cricket.
But India A head coach Sunil Joshi will be quick to remind that the Shaheens attack in terms of quality will be way better compared to UAE, who don't have a lot of quality in their second-string team.
For Pakistan, the main challenge will come from right-arm pacer Ubaid Shah, who incidentally is the younger brother of senior international Naseem Shah.
Since this is a T20 tournament, the India A team is full of young IPL stars while Pakistan Shaheens comprises of all those who have been performers in the Pakistan Super League.
However, in terms of playing senior internationals for India, there are only two players in skipper Jitesh and all-rounder Ramandeep Singh, who have played T20Is for India. But the likes of Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, Naman Dhir are all bonafide IPL stars in their own rights and give the 'A' team a formidable look.
For Shaheens, skipper Irfan has played nine ODIs but hardly got any success.
(With PTI Inputs)
