The Khan family’s joyous celebrations are far from over. Hot on the heels of his brother Sarfaraz Khan’s maiden national call-up for India’s Test squad against England, young prodigy Musheer Khan has made headlines at the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa. Displaying an impressive batting prowess, Musheer smashed a spectacular century, his second in the tournament, contributing a substantial 131 runs. His outstanding performance helped the Indian team to a formidable total of 295 in the allotted 50 overs.
By registering his second hundred, Musheer joined an elite roster of batsmen, becoming the second Indian, following Shikhar Dhawan’s footsteps, to hit two or more centuries in a single U19 World Cup edition. The record for the most hundreds in an edition is currently held by Dhawan with three centuries, a landmark he achieved in 2004. Jack Burnham of England is the latest to emulate this feat, having scored three centuries in the 2016 edition of the U19 World Cup.
With India’s advancement to the knockout stages likely, Musheer now stands on the threshold of equaling, or potentially surpassing, Dhawan’s record of three centuries. The accomplishment would etch his name in the history books alongside striking talents who have achieved the distinction of scoring multiple tons in a single U19 World Cup, including athletes like Alastair Cook and Dewald Brevis, among others.
Here is the illustrious list of players who have hit two or more centuries in a single U19 World Cup tournament:
– Brett Williams: 2 centuries (1988 U19 World Cup)
– Shikhar Dhawan: 3 centuries (2004 U19 World Cup)
– Alastair Cook: 2 centuries (2004 U19 World Cup)
– Anamul Haque: 2 centuries (2012 U19 World Cup)
– Aiden Markram: 2 centuries (2014 U19 World Cup)
– Jack Burnham: 3 centuries (2016 U19 World Cup)
– Alick Athanaze: 2 centuries (2018 U19 World Cup)
– Raynard van Tonder: 2 centuries (2018 U19 World Cup)
– Hasitha Boyagoda: 2 centuries (2018 U19 World Cup)
– Dewald Brevis: 2 centuries (2020 U19 World Cup)
– Haseebullah Khan: 2 centuries (2020 U19 World Cup)
– Ariful Islam: 2 centuries (2020 U19 World Cup)
In other cricket updates, analysts predict a strong performance for England, with expectations of a sweep in the ongoing series after India’s setback in Hyderabad. Rohit Sharma looks forward to surpassing multiple personal milestones in the second Test against England. Meanwhile, Beth Mooney’s powerful performance leads the Australian women to clinch a nerve-wracking T20I series victory against South Africa.
On the playing field amid the U19 World Cup, Musheer stepped up to the crease earlier than anticipated, arriving at number three in the fifth over after an early dismissal of teammate Arshin Kulkarni. Opening batsman Adarsh Singh hit a commendable half-century, while the team captain, Uday Saharan, contributed a solid 34 runs. Despite losing several wickets towards the end of the innings, India’s young team succeeded in setting a challenging target of 295 runs for New Zealand.
The task at hand for New Zealand is daunting, as the young colts must now muster all their skill and determination to chase down India’s imposing total. The performance and ambition displayed by Musheer Khan not only bring promise to the ongoing contest but also signal the rise of a new generation of cricketing talent ready to make their mark on the world stage.
