'I played a decent knock against India' - Azan Awais opens up on his brilliant century in U19 Asia Cup

Asian youngsters have been showcasing their talents in the ongoing ACC U19 Asia Cup, with eight teams including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and UAE participating at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai. On December 10, Pakistan and India faced off in the fifth match of the tournament.

In this encounter, Pakistan U19 comfortably defeated India U19, thanks to a remarkable century by 19-year-old Azan Awais, who scored an unbeaten 105 runs in 130 balls with ten fours. Azan deservedly earned the Player of the Match award as Pakistan triumphed over India by eight wickets, successfully chasing down a target of 260 with 18 balls to spare.

Following the match, Azan engaged in a conversation with Shahzaib Khan, who contributed a solid 63 off 88 balls to set a strong foundation for the chase. Azan expressed his happiness at performing in a high-pressure game. After the early dismissal of Shamyl Hussain, Awais forged a crucial partnership of 110 runs with opener Shahzaib Khan. After Shahzaib's departure, Awais and skipper Saad Baig put together an unbeaten stand of 125 runs, with Saad scoring 68 off 51 balls.

“I played a decent knock against India. It was a pressure match as the pendulum was swinging from one end to the other. You (Shahzaib) also put on a handy partnership with me, and it was vital for us. Saad also built a partnership. We went step by step and built small partnerships. This is the reason why we made it easy for ourselves and won the match,” Awais said in a video posted on Pakistan Cricket’s Twitter handle.

Awais stated he was very excited about the match, and with the conditions favoring fast bowlers, he chose to take on the Indian spinners to put them under pressure.

“I was excited about the match and conditions were favoring fast bowlers. I tried to take on their spinners and capitalize on their bad balls,” Awais added.

Pakistan U19 are all set to play their next match against Afghanistan U19 on Tuesday, December 13, at the ICC Academy in Dubai.