Rahul Dravid’s sons Anvay and Samit shine in India U-19 and KSCA Maharaja Trophy

With India tottering at 81/4 in the 18th over of the first innings, 17-year-old Anvay stitched a 144-run partnership with Arjun Rajput off just 126 balls, helping India to their eventual total of 285.

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Anvay’s innings featured nine boundaries and one six as he prudently managed the tempo of the innings. He nicely navigated the middle overs, remaining mindful of the uphill task facing the team. He took fourteen deliveries to hit his first boundary. Later he put away the bad deliveries but continued to rotate the strike with an eye on keeping the scoreboard ticking.

He found an able partner in Rajput, who scored 76 (81) before being run out in the 40th over. Anvay himself was finally bowled by Gimhan Mendis shortly after, in the 44th over. He walked off to big applause from the dugout, having displayed immense maturity and grit along with solid defensive technique in what was only his second U-19 appearance. He had truly lived up to his name, showing flashes of the ‘Wall of India’ that his father had long been for the senior team.

It marked a proud couple of days for the Dravid household.

The elder Dravid sibling, a fast-bowling all-rounder, showed a full array of back-foot cuts and lofted drives. His batting technique, especially the upright stance, the high left elbow and the trigger movement of his bat swing, had already created a sense of déjà vu last week, during a 23-ball-knock of 32 for the Blasters.

Both siblings ply their domestic trade for Karnataka. Anvay recently led Karnataka's Under-19 side to the quarter-finals of the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, finishing as his side’s second-highest run-scorer with 220 runs in six innings.

20-year-old Samit, meanwhile, had played a crucial role in Karnataka’s 2023/24 Cooch Behar Trophy win, scoring 362 runs and picking 16 wickets in that campaign. That run of form saw him selected for the India U-19 tour of Australia in 2024, before a knee injury ruled him out. On Monday, his younger brother achieved that dream for him.

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