Vriitya Aravind equals Shahid Afridi record with match-winning ton for UAE in Texas

Vriitya Aravind entered an exclusive group of just two other players after notching the second one-day international century of his career.

The wicketkeeper batter hit the winning runs to take the UAE to an eight-wicket victory over the United States in Cricket World Cup League 2 in Texas, and went to 102 not out in the process.

It meant he became just the third player in history, after Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and Ahmed Shahzad, to score two ODIs centuries while still a teenager.

Aravind, who turns 20 on Saturday, said he had been set the target of a second ton by his father.

His dad, Rudhravel, and mum, Sashirekha, were in Texas to see it happen, just as they had been when he scored his first century – 13,000kms closer to home, in Sharjah against Namibia in March.

“My dad said, ‘You have to score a hundred in US so you have two before you turn 20, that is a big milestone to achieve’,” Aravind said. “I said, ‘Alright, I will try my best.’ To have my parents there was good. They come wherever I am to watch.

“They are planning to book a flight to Australia [when UAE play at the T20 World Cup in October]. They have been having a good time.”

The fact Aravind achieved the feat against United States felt apt. He had been plucked out of lessons at school to make his international debut against the same opposition, in Sharjah in 2019.

“The first runs I scored in international cricket was an edge through the slips off Saurabh Netravalkar past Xavier Marshall,” Aravind recalled of his debut.

19 year old Vriitya Aravind led UAE to a 8 wicket win & closed out the first https://t.co/pyNLJZC6Ru ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 Series Supported by Dream11The leading run-scorer at Moosa won the Player of the Match & Player of the Series