Vaibhav Sooryavanshi breaks Sanju Samson's record during India's Under-19 semifinal clash against Afghanistan

India’s young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi created history on Wednesday, February 4, during the ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup semifinal against Afghanistan in Harare.

Opening the innings for India, the left-handed batter from Samastipur, Bihar, played a fearless knock of 68 runs off just 33 balls. His innings included four massive sixes, which helped him break a long-standing Indian record in U19 World Cup history.

With those four maximums, Sooryavanshi took his total sixes tally in the tournament to 15, which is the most ever by an Indian player in the Under-19 World Cup. He went past Sanju Samson and Gaurav Dhiman, who had earlier shared the record with 12 sixes each.

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Sanju Samson had hit 12 sixes during the 2014 U19 World Cup in six matches, while Gaurav Dhiman struck a dozen sixes across 13 games in the 2004 and 2006 editions. Vaibhav also surpassed Samson’s record for hitting the most sixes by an Indian in a single U19 World Cup edition.

Players with the most sixes in single edition of Under 19 World Cup

Who smashed most sixes in history of Under-19 World Cup?

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On the global stage, the record for most sixes in U19 World Cup history is still held by New Zealand’s Finn Allen and South Africa’s Dewald Brevis. Both batters smashed 18 sixes, Allen across the 2016 and 2018 tournaments, and Brevis during the 2022 edition.