Harvansh Singh Smashes Century in Just 52 Balls: The Next Rishabh Pant?
India U-19 wicketkeeper-batter Harvansh Singh Pangalia delivered a stunning performance on Tuesday, scoring a blistering century in a warm-up match against England U-19.
Harvansh Singh with his father.
Coming to the crease with the score at 251/7 in the 36th over, Harvansh Singh Pangalia partnered with RS Ambrish, and together they forged a crucial 126-run partnership. Ambrish played a dominant role in the stand, scoring a fluent 72 off 47 balls before his dismissal. At that stage, Pangalia had already reached 47 off 33 balls and swiftly reached his half-century with a boundary off the very next ball.
In the final three overs, Pangalia launched a remarkable assault. He began the 48th over with consecutive sixes off Manny Lumsden, who then bowled two no-balls in succession. The following over saw another six off Matthew Firbank, but the real fireworks were saved for the last over. Pangalia hammered Lumsden for a four, followed by three massive sixes—his final six securing a brilliant century in just 52 deliveries. Notably, he reached his second fifty in a lightning-quick 18 balls.
By the end of the innings, India had amassed a formidable 442/9. Pangalia remained unbeaten, having hit nine sixes. The young wicketkeeper-batter, who represents Saurashtra's youth team, had previously caught attention with an aggressive 117 against Australia in a Youth Test last October, where he struck seven boundaries and six sixes.
India U-19 wicketkeeper-batter Harvansh Singh comes from Gandhidham, a small town in Gujarat's Rann of Kutch. Growing up, he watched his father, Damandeep Singh, and uncle, Kunwarajeet Singh, play cricket in their town, and both of them were wicketkeepers. Currently, Harvansh's family resides in Canada, where his father works as a truck driver in Brampton. Harvansh lives in Gandhidham with his mother and has promised his father that he will bring them back to India one day.
Damandeep never imagined that a video of Yuvraj Singh's six sixes would ignite such a passion for the game in his son, leading him to commit to representing his country.
"Even Rajkot is 200 km away from our city. It was only in 2012 when the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) opened an academy in our town. I enrolled Harvansh in it when he was six. He picked up keeping from me, as I used to don the gloves as well. But he turned southpaw because of Yuvraj Singh. He's a massive Yuvraj fan and hasn't even seen peak Yuvraj, but he was obsessed with the video of him hitting six sixes off Stuart Broad," Damandeep told TimesofIndia.com in an interview.
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