Sri Lanka A captain Sahan Arachchige has rejected the idea that his team is ‘targeting’ Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the ongoing tri-series, involving India A and Afghanistan A in the island nation. 

He said the controversial spat involving Sri Lanka A player Vishen Halambage and  15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the last match between the teams was a ‘normal’ burst of emotions for a tense match.

India A and Sri Lanka A will meet in the final of the series on Sunday (June 21). The game in the group stage of the tri-series went down to the Super Over. 

Tasked with scoring 14 runs off the last three balls in the decider, Sooryavanshi failed to complete the chase and was met with sledges from Sri Lankan players.

Sooryavanshi initially walked away, but tensions flared when batting partner Suryansh Shedge confronted the hosts, and the teenager ended up pushing Halambage. 

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) fined Halambage for the incident, and there were reports of the team considering apologising to Sooryavanshi, though it didn’t happen. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided against sanctioning the Bihar batter. 

“The boys are not targeting anyone or anything. They are just enjoying themselves,” he said. “In a close game like a Super Over, emotions come out. That’s normal,” Arachchige told Sportstar. 

Arachchige also expressed confidence in his side’s preparation.

“With the batting, there is no issue. And with the bowling, every fast bowler and spinner is doing very well. I think we are in good shape,” he said.

India A and Sri Lanka A met once before in this series before the Super-Over clash. In that game, the Men in Blue secured a narrow eight-run win.

While it’s hard to say if Sooryavanshi would be feeling any pressure at all, considering what he has achieved at a much bigger stage of the IPL, the 15-year-old would want to end the series well, having managed only 117 runs in four matches. (News18)

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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who has taken the cricket world by storm with his scintillating performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is likely to face some legal hurdles with social activist CM Shivakumar Nayak threatening to lodge an FIR against the Governing Council for ‘allegedly’ flouting rules by permitting 15-year-old to play the cash-rich league.

Vaibhav, who plies his trade with Rajasthan Royals had become the youngest ​player, and the fastest by balls faced, to complete 1,000 runs in Twenty20 cricket as en route to smashing a 36-ball century ⁠in the IPL 2026 tie against Sunrisers Hyderabad recently.

He hit 12 sixes ⁠and five boundaries as he completed his ‌second century in the tournament, shortly after reaching 1,000 runs in T20 cricket, having faced just 473 balls in the format. The ⁠century was the third fastest in IPL history, after Chris Gayle’s 30-ball ton in 2013 and his own 35-ball hundred last year.

The southpaw has poleaxed some top-of-the-draw bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Josh Hazlewood in IPL 2026. However, Nayak believes he should not be playing cricket and instead focus on studies.

“This 15-year-old boy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from Rajasthan Royals is being exploited. This is nothing but child labour. How can they make a minor boy play in such a big league like this?” Nayak said during a televised debate.

He added that Sooryavanshi should be focusing on studies instead. During the debate, he also said that he would be taking legal action against the franchise. 

As per law children below 14 are prohibited from working in most occupations, while adolescents (14-18) can work in non-hazardous sectors under regulated conditions. However, sports activities are exempted from the ambit of the law.

Recently he was accused of using an AI chip to generate more power by Pakistan’s cricket expert Nauman Niaz.

The Rajasthan Royals’ chubby-cheeked batting sensation has literally taken the cricket world by storm that his name has been put in the list of 35 T20 specialists that the national selectors have picked as probable for the T20I leg of the Ireland tour in June-July. (Deccan Herald)

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