Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s much-anticipated return to competitive cricket for India A ended in a brief stay at the crease as the teenage sensation managed 14 runs in the Tri-Nation A Series opener against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla on Tuesday.The young batsman, who attracted widespread attention following his stellar IPL 2026 campaign, walked in with plenty of expectations but could not convert his start into a big score. Sooryavanshi struck only three fours during his 12-ball knock before being caught by Sahan Arachchige off the bowling of Mohamed Shiraz. His dismissal left India A at 16-1 in the fourth over.India A had opted to bat first after winning the toss. Alongside Sooryavanshi, wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh also departed early for just two runs. However, Priyansh Arya and Ruturaj Gaikwad steadied the innings with a useful partnership before Arya was run out for 32. Gaikwad remained unbeaten on 46, while captain Tilak Varma was unbeaten on 18 as India A reached 118-3 after 28 overs.Ahead of the match, Sri Lanka A vice-captain Niroshan Dickwella Had spoken about the excitement surrounding Sooryavanshi and the challenge of facing the youngster.He hasn’t played a lot of List ‘A’ cricket, but this is a good one. opportunity for him to showcase his talent, explore, and show that he’s a very good short-format player. And, you know, we’re looking forward to this contest,” Dickwella told TOI.When asked about plans to contain the Indian batter, Dickwella said: “We’re not trying to stop him, but, we’ll try to execute our basics first. We’ve some plans for him and for the whole Indian batting line-up. But, on that day, on the merit of how he is going to take the bowlers on, we will try and keep him down. The conditions here are different… I think in the IPL they have flatter pitches, but here in Sri Lanka we have huge grounds.”
