This was coming. VK Vineeth was getting impatient.
And he pays the price with his wicket.
Sharp short ball from Ali Raza, who is in his 5th over right now. VK Vineeth tries to pull the ball. Gets a thick glove on it, and the ball flies straight into the hands of the wicketkeeper.
U19 Asia Cup, India vs Pakistan Live: India (21/2 in 9 ovs). Aaryavir Sehwag (11*), VK Vineeth (8 off 29 balls).
VK Vineeth is getting desperate.
A wild slash ends up taking the top edge and flies over the slips. Vineeth is lucky that the ball does not fall into the hands of the third man as well.
Pakistan continue to field with one slip, one gully, and one point, keeping the pressure on India.
U19 Asia Cup, India vs Pakistan Live: India (20/1 in 8 ovs). Aaryavir Sehwag (10*), VK Vineeth (8*).
India hit the first boundary of the match in the fifth over of this contest.
Aaryavir Sehwag crashes an exceptional straight drive against Ali Raza to provide a riposte.
It is a shot worthy to be framed, say the commentators.
India are slowly starting to look comfortable as the ball starts losing its shine. Pakistan, however, have been bowling well, and are giving away only one-off poor deliveries.
U19 Asia Cup, India vs Pakistan Live: India (18/1 in 7 ovs). Aaryavir Sehwag (9*), VK Vineeth (7*).
Aaryavir Sehwag, son of legendary Virender Sehwag, is patient in his approach in the powerplay.
His approach to batting is not entirely based on his father. While some of his shots do look like Virender Sehwag, Aaryavir is more sensible in his approach.
He is currently defending anything that is bowled in his stumps as Ali Raza continues to dominate the early exchanges.
U19 Asia Cup, India vs Pakistan Live: India (8/1 in 3 ovs). Aaryavir Sehwag (2*), VK Vineeth (4*)
Left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Sayyam has come to bowl the second over.
His action is a beautiful one.
Indian openers are finding it tough to negotiate the opening exchanges.
Aaryavir Sehwag was lucky to survive the first ball of his innings, where his inside edge went just beyond his stumps.
U19 Asia Cup, India vs Pakistan Live: India (7/1 in 2 ovs). Aaryavir Sehwag (2*), VK Vineeth (3*)
Terrible start for India.
Ali Raza knocks over Raichandani's stumps in the second ball of the first over.
Length ball, coming into Raichandani. He leaves the ball and it crashes into his off stump.
Ali Raza is on the money from the very first ball.
It is Diwali, but there is no handshake at the toss.
Lakshya Raichandani wins the toss, opts to bat first and walks off with his hands behind his back.
Pakistan's U19 team are preparing themselves to get onto the pitch.
This looks like a spicy deck, at least for the starting hour of the day.
There is a lot of grass, which should hold up the wicket together well. But the first hour will belong to the fast bowlers if they get their lengths right.
India U19 (Playing XI): Lakshya Rajesh Raichandani(c), Aaryavir Sehwag, Anvay Dravid(w), Arjun Rajput, Ishan Sood, Kavya Patel, Manal Chauhan, Mohit Ulva, Yashveer Goud, VK Vineeth, Yashbardhan Chauhan
Pakistan U19 (Playing XI): Usman Khan, Jahangir Bilal, Abdul Qadir, Ahmed Hussain, Ali Raza, Hamza Zahoor(w), Hasnain Abbas Dar, Mohammad Sayyam, Farhan Yousaf(c), Niqab Shafiq, Rizwanullah
Lakshya Raichandani has won the toss and opted to bat first.
Him and Aaryavir Sehwag are set to open the innings.
WHO IS PAKISTAN'S MAIN WEAPON?
Pakistan have come to the U19 Asia Cup with the leader of their bowling attack.
Ali Raza, who made life incredibly difficult for India in the last edition of the tournament will be in action today.
Pakistan clinched their maiden Under-19 Asia Cup title in December 2025, defeating India by 191 runs in the final in Dubai. The emphatic victory remains a painful memory for the Indian side, who will now have an opportunity to respond against the same opponents in Oman.
Ali Raza, a fast bowler, was among the standout performers in last year's final, when he dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for 26 off just 10 deliveries. The left-handed opener had already struck three sixes before Ali found his edge, with wicketkeeper Hamza Zahoor completing the catch. Ali finished with figures of 4/42, also accounting for Ayush Mhatre, Kanishk Chouhan and Deepesh Devendran.
India won their previous match against Nepal, courtesy of a half century from Aaryavir Sehwag. But before that, it was fast bowler Ishan Sood who ran through the Nepal batting unit with figures of 10-4-18-3.
Sehwag will of course be in focus today, and so will be Anvay Dravid, who did not get a chance to bat in the last game. Dravid is the wicketkeeper of the team as well, sparking comparisons to his father - Rahul.
Hello and welcome to India Today's live coverage of the ACC U19 Asia Cup 2026.
Two heavyweights of Asia - India and Pakistan - are playing their second group-stage match today. Both are coming off big wins in their opening game in the group stage and would like to continue their streak in this tournament.
