India brought 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi into their XI for the Asian Games semi-final against Sri Lanka in Nisshin; at the time of writing, Sri Lanka were 33 for 7 chasing 170.
India have brought 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi into their playing XI for the second semi-final of the men's cricket competition at the Asian Games 2026, against Sri Lanka at Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin. The game started at 13:30 local time on 1 October 2026. Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field, and India responded with an XI built around spin: Jasprit Bumrah is the only specialist fast bowler, with Arshdeep Singh left out.
| Match summary | |
|---|---|
| What | Asian Games men's cricket, second semi-final |
| Who | India vs Sri Lanka |
| Where | Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin, Japan |
| When | 1 October 2026, started 10:00 IST |
| Toss | Sri Lanka won and chose to field |
| India | 169 for 7 (20 overs) |
| Sri Lanka | 33 for 7 after 6.2 overs (target 170) |
| At stake | Winners face Pakistan in the gold-medal match |
Why Sooryavanshi is the story
Sooryavanshi was asked to open alongside Abhishek Sharma, with Sanju Samson keeping wicket at No. 3 and Shreyas Iyer captaining. The teenager became famous in April 2025 when, aged 14 years 32 days, he hit a 35-ball hundred for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur: the youngest century in all men's T20 cricket and the second-fastest IPL hundred ever, behind Chris Gayle's 30-ball 175*. He made his India T20I debut in Harare in July 2026.
ESPNcricinfo spells his name Vaibhav Sooryavanshi; some other outlets spell it Suryavanshi.
How the game is going
At the time of writing, India had posted 169 for 7 from their 20 overs, and Sri Lanka, chasing 170, had collapsed to 33 for 7 in 6.2 overs. Sri Lanka were captained by Sahan Arachchige and included three T20I debutants: wicketkeeper-batter Sohan de Livera, batter Sineth Jayawardena and left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Wanuja Sahan.
The winners meet Pakistan in the gold-medal match. Pakistan beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the first semi-final, a rain-shortened 13-over game in which Abdul Samad and Mohammad Nawaz rescued them after Bangladesh made 111 for 7. Both quarter-finals were washed out, so if this game ends without a result, India go through as the higher-ranked side.
Draft your own opening pair
A 15-year-old opening a semi-final for India is the sort of pick no simulator would let you make. In BuildXI you spin eleven real IPL squads from 2008 to 2025, take one player from each, and play a full season with the side you end up with. The target is 14-0: fourteen league games, fourteen wins.