Chhattisgarh U-16 make historic first entry into Vijay Merchant Trophy knockouts | Raipur News
RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh have qualified for the knockout stage of the Men’s U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy for the first time, riding on a gritty draw against Rajasthan and consistent performances across both batting and bowling in the league phase. The BCCI-organised Men’s U-16 Vijay Merchant Multi-Day Trophy 2025 began on December 7, with Chhattisgarh’s fourth league match against Rajasthan played at Gwalior from December 23-25. Despite conceding the first-innings lead and having to fight for survival on the final day, Chhattisgarh’s ability to draw the game was enough to secure qualification from Elite Group B, where they finished second behind Punjab on the points table. This marks the first time Chhattisgarh U-16 have progressed to the knockouts of the tournament, underlining the steady rise of the state’s age-group cricket structure. After Rajasthan U-16 won the toss and opted to field, Chhattisgarh managed 192 in 72 overs in their first innings, built around Chandransh Yadav’s 58, with useful contributions from Tushya Prajapati (42), Aditya Byadwal and Prateek Gandharv (26 each), Ujjawal Markam (23) and an unbeaten 19 from Arshveer Singh Bhatia. Rajasthan replied with 211 in 92.3 overs to claim the first-innings lead, powered by Anurag Lakhan’s 67, Rohan Choudhary’s 47 and Yash Sharma’s 41, while Chhattisgarh’s bowlers kept them in check through Yatharth Singh Chouhan’s 3 wickets and two each from Arham Nahar and Tushya Prajapati, with Arshveer adding one. Facing scoreboard pressure in the second innings, Chhattisgarh produced a strong 282 in 103.4 overs, thanks to a superb 104 by Anshuman Thakur and another 58 from Chandransh Yadav, with Ujjawal Markam’s 29 helping ensure the match ended in a draw despite Rajasthan’s first-innings advantage. Chandransh’s twin contributions (58 in the first innings and 58 in the second) gave the line-up crucial stability at key moments, while Anshuman Thakur’s match-saving century in the second innings showed temperament and shot-selection suited to multi-day cricket. Over the league phase, top-order batter Tushya Prajapati aggregated 193 runs in 6 innings across 4 matches with a highest score of 103, and Aditya Byadwal compiled 181 runs in 6 innings with a best of 95, underlining Chhattisgarh’s emerging top-order strength heading into the knockouts. With ball in hand, Chhattisgarh’s progress has been driven by a disciplined pace–spin combination. In the Rajasthan game, Yatharth’s three-wicket burst, backed by Arham and Tushya’s two wickets each and a key strike from Arshveer Singh Bhatia, prevented Rajasthan from running away with a large lead despite batting 92.3 overs. Across the group stage, Arshveer has emerged as one of the standout bowlers in the country at this level, claiming 22 wickets in 7 innings over 4 matches—including one four-wicket and one five-wicket haul—to sit seventh in the current all-India bowling rankings, while Arham Nahar’s 18 wickets in 7 innings, with one five-for, place him 12th nationally and give Chhattisgarh a potent twin-strike option for the knockout phase. In Elite Group B, Punjab topped the table with 27 points from 4 matches, while Chhattisgarh secured second place with 21 points, comfortably ahead of Rajasthan, Odisha, Puducherry and Bihar in both total points and quotient. As they head into the knockouts with in-form batters like Tushya Prajapati, Aditya Byadwal, Anshuman Thakur and Chandransh Yadav, and a high-impact bowling pair in Arshveer Singh Bhatia and Arham Nahar, Chhattisgarh U-16 carry both momentum and a deeper bench of proven performers than in any previous Vijay Merchant campaign.
