India U-19 Overcomes Rain Delay to Dominate Australia in T20
What began as a morning of umbrellas and uncertainty in Rajkot ended with India Under-19 thumping out 182 for 6 in a rain-trimmed shootout, fuelled by fearless middle-order hitting and a late flourish from Yashbardhan Chauhan.
The first Youth ODI between India and Australia at the Niranjan Shah Stadium was reduced to a T20 after persistent rain, waterlogged patches near the 30-yard circle and repeated inspections kept players and parents waiting. For hours, the day belonged to the groundstaff and the weather apps. When the skies finally relented, the young Indians made sure the shortened game was worth the wait.
From drizzle to dash
The match had to start by 1.47 pm to avoid being called off. For a long time that looked optimistic. Heavy showers, dark skies and a soaked outfield kept the covers on through the morning. The umpires’ early look at the surface brought bad news: waterlogging around the circle, slow drying conditions and more rain on the radar.
Parents who had travelled from Australia, some from as far as Sydney, sat through a long, damp vigil. Among them, the family of “home boy” Neel Patel, whose father Puneet once played domestic cricket in Gujarat before moving abroad, waited for a game that refused to start. “We just hope there’s some game today,” he said, as showers ebbed and returned.
Eventually the rain eased, the groundstaff went to work in earnest and the format itself shifted. The contest was recut as a T20. The toss, delayed from its original 8.30 am slot, finally went India’s way. Lakshya Rajesh Raichandani chose to bat.
Sehwag’s namesake sets the tone
The nostalgia line wrote itself before a ball was struck. Aaryavir Sehwag, opening alongside captain Raichandani, took guard as Kasey Barton steamed in for Australia.
Three dots to start. Then the first boundary of the day, punched away by Sehwag. The commentary box could not resist: “Sehwag off the mark with a four...! Nostalgic sentence. This time it’s Aaryavir at the strike.”
Once off the mark, Aaryavir pushed the tempo. By the end of the second over, India had 20 on the board, both openers finding the rope. Sehwag moved briskly to 16 off 14 balls, peppering the field with three fours and giving India exactly what a rain-shortened game demands: early momentum.
At 31 without loss after four overs, India had settled the nerves. The PowerPlay belonged to the hosts.
Australia hit back, India wobble
The early assurance did not last unchallenged. Australia’s seamers dragged the innings back with a burst of wickets through the middle overs.
A quiet eighth over from Will Byrom checked the scoring, and the pressure told soon after. At 65 for 2 in the ninth, India lost their captain. Raichandani, who had scratched his way to 15 off 15 with two boundaries, fell caught off Eli Brain, giving Australia a much-needed breakthrough.
The visitors then struck in clusters. Byrom removed Kushagra Ojha, who had contributed a brisk 16 off 14, and suddenly India were 74 for 3 at the 10-over mark. Spencer Green deepened the wobble in the 12th over, trapping Arjun Rajput in front for 15 off 8, a cameo that had briefly threatened to break loose with a six and a four.
From 62 without loss to 89 for 4, India’s innings had been yanked back into a contest. The platform looked vulnerable. The total, at that stage, looked modest.
Then the game flipped again.
Dravid and Chauhan rip into the attack
Anvay Dravid walked in with India under a bit of strain and immediately changed the tone. A single to get off the mark, then a switch in intent that Australia struggled to contain.
The 13th over from Byrom went for 11, Dravid collecting his first four and signalling that he would not be dictated to. The real damage, though, came in the 14th.
Spencer Green returned, and Yashbardhan Chauhan greeted him with a towering six first ball. A single brought Dravid on strike, and he matched his partner with a six of his own, his first of the day. The over spiralled: Chauhan closed it with two crisp fours, and 22 runs crashed onto the scoreboard. India leapt from 100 to 122 in the space of six balls. The momentum had swung decisively.
Eli Brain tried to stem the tide but Dravid was seeing it big. Another maximum in the 15th over pushed India to 134 for 4, the partnership now dictating terms. Dravid’s innings was all about clean, uncluttered hitting: 38 off just 18 deliveries, laced with three sixes and two fours.
Brain eventually got his man in the 18th over, knocking back Dravid’s stumps. The dismissal ended a blistering stand but not India’s charge. By then, the damage was done.
Yashbardhan closes it out
With Dravid gone at 159 for 5, Australia had a fleeting chance to drag the total back under control. Chauhan refused to let them.
He kept finding gaps, kept finding the boundary. A four in Byrom’s 17th over, another in the next phase of play, and a refusal to let the innings drift. His tempo never dropped. By the time the final over began, he had already turned a fragile platform into a powerful launch.
Chauhan eventually fell in the 20th over, dismissed after a superb 54 from just 34 balls. Five fours, two sixes, and an innings that stitched India’s start and middle-order stutter into something imposing. Even with his wicket, India squeezed eight runs from the last over to finish on 182 for 6.
On a damp day that almost never got going, India’s young batters had turned a truncated game into a statement. Australia’s top order now has to chase under lights in Rajkot, with a heavy outfield, a fired-up home attack and a crowd that finally has something to cheer.
For the parents who waited through the rain and the boys who grew up dreaming of days like this, the question now is simple: can Australia’s next generation match the audacity India just put on the board?
