The ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) will lose some of its sheen in the coming days, as teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi is set to miss the remainder of the tournament.
The young opener lit up the opening day of the VHT, with an 84-ball 190 for Bihar against Arunachal Pradesh on December 24 in Ranchi. His scintillating knock, which was dotted with 15 sixes and 16 fours, made him the youngest player to score a ton in men's List A cricket, at 14 years and 272 days. His 36-ball century was also the fastest hundred by an Indian in List A cricket.
However, Bihar took the field today against Manipur with Suryavanshi in their team, as the youngster had to travel to Delhi to receive the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP). He is set to receive the award from President Droupadi Murmu, and following the formal ceremony, Suryavanshi and his fellow awardees will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
What is the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar?
The PMRBP is India's highest civilian honour for children, aged between 5 and 18. It is awarded annually for exceptional achievements in bravery, art and culture, environment, innovation, science and technology, social service and sports.
The award recognises outstanding contributions by children that deserve national recognition and celebrates the excellence of India's youth.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi set to miss remainder of Vijay Hazare Trophy
Suryavanshi will not be able to rejoin the Bihar squad even after the award ceremony.
He is expected to link up with the India U-19 squad and travel to Zimbabwe to prepare for the upcoming World Cup, which begins on January 15.
The U-19 India squad was recently seen in action at the Asia Cup in the UAE, where they lost the final to Pakistan by 191 runs. Though Suryavanshi smashed a brilliant 171 earlier in the tournament, he did not have a consistent run in the tounament.