Manal Chauhan’s debut hundred carries India Under-19s clear of 0 for 2
India Under-19s lost both openers without a run on the board in Colombo, then watched Kushagra Ojha and debutant Manal Chauhan bat them into control of the second Youth Test.
Jul 21, 2026
India Under-19s were two down without a run on the board inside six overs at the R Premadasa Stadium. By late morning on day two they were 341 for five, and two batters had made hundreds to get them there.
Manal Chauhan is unbeaten on 113 in his first Youth Test. Kushagra Ojha made 111 before a direct hit ended him. Between them they turned a morning that was falling apart into the strongest position either side has held in this two-match series.
Nought for two inside six overs
Sri Lanka Under-19s captain Vimath Dinsara put India in, and the decision looked immediately correct. Lakshya Raichandani was bowled by Sethmika Seneviratne for a duck off the third ball of the innings. Sagar Virk survived eighteen deliveries for his nought before edging Gimhan Mendis to Aveesha Samash in the sixth over.
That left India nought for two with the new ball still hard and the scoreboard yet to move. Ojha walked in and had to bat as though the situation were normal, which for a while it plainly was not.
Ojha and the captain steady it
Yashbardhan Chauhan joined him and the pair added 122 for the third wicket. The captain was the more fluent of the two, hitting eleven fours and two sixes in his 78 from 89 balls before Mendis had him caught by Senuja Wekunagoda just before the thirty-over mark.
Ojha’s innings ran to 193 balls and carried twelve fours and two sixes. He had reached three figures by the close of a shortened first day, when India were 253 for three from 65 overs, and he took his score to 111 on Tuesday morning before Dulnith Sigera ran him out to break a fourth-wicket stand worth 155.
A hundred on debut
Manal Chauhan was the other half of that partnership, and his hundred is the one that will travel furthest. He is one of four Indian players making a Youth Test debut in this match, along with Aryan Sakpa, Chigurupati Venkata and Rohit Yadav, and he has batted through more than 190 balls for an innings of fourteen fours and a six without giving a chance.
Sakpa made 10 before Seneviratne had him caught behind by Jason Fernando, which brought Kavya Paresh Patel to the crease with India past 320. Seneviratne and Mendis have two wickets apiece, Seneviratne from 21 overs with five maidens and Mendis from 20 with six, and no other Sri Lankan bowler has taken a wicket in more than 45 overs between them.
A series still level
The first Youth Test at Galle finished as a draw earlier in July. Sri Lanka declared on 424 for nine, India replied with 576, and the hosts batted out the fourth day at 178 for six. Sri Lanka had taken the Youth ODI series that preceded it 2-1, winning the last of those three by a single wicket off the final ball.
This match runs to 23 July, so there is time in it for a result if India can build a big enough first innings and get Sri Lanka in twice. They are still batting.