It was supposed to be a Diwali celebration for India. It turned into one of those afternoons where a single innings decides everything.
India won the toss and batted, and it went wrong quickly. Pakistan’s seamers took a cluster of early wickets, and India were 86/5 at one point, according to the Daily Pioneer. Rajput, who hails from Jalandhar in Punjab, took charge from there. He played a counterattacking knock of 107 off 85 balls and was the main reason India reached a competitive total.
Support was thin. Kavya Patel made 23, and Patel and last man Ishan Sood put on a handy last-wicket stand of 13 runs to lift India to 208 all out. The Tribune’s headline called Rajput the man who rescued India. It wasn’t enough. India’s captain later said the team was 20 to 30 runs short, per The Statesman.
Pakistan’s reply started worse than India’s. They fell to 61/5, and it looked as if Rajput’s hundred would be the match-winning one. Manal Chauhan bowled the Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf, and a few Pakistani batters threw it away. News18 and Outlook India both ran pieces on a comical dropped catch in which three fielders left a sitter unattended, each apparently waiting for another to take it.
Then came the partnership. Wicketkeeper-batter Zahoor struck a composed, unbeaten century from number seven, and he and Hasnain Abbas Dar put on 107 for the sixth wicket to swing the game. Chauhan did break it, getting Dar caught by Rajput at mid-wicket for 38, which brought India back into the game for a few overs. But Zahoor finished it. Pakistan completed the chase with 11.5 overs left.
NDTV Sports reports Zahoor said afterwards that there was no pressure on him. Hindustan Times described the game as a low-scoring thriller.
The match came with extra edge. Livemint reported that Niqab Shafiq gave an animated send-off to India’s Aaryavir Sehwag after dismissing him, an incident that drew attention on social media. I haven’t seen any official reaction or a disciplinary report.
There’s also recent history. Pakistan beat India by 191 runs in the 2025 Under-19 Asia Cup final in Dubai, a game in which Sameer Minhas scored 172, per Gulf News. India won the Under-19 World Cup Super Six match against Pakistan by 58 runs, which knocked Pakistan out. So the two sides have traded big results in the past year. This one went Pakistan’s way.
For Pakistan, the result locks in a semi-final spot. Aaj English reports they qualified, and they top Group A. For India, the defeat is a setback, though not necessarily fatal. I haven’t confirmed India’s exact standing in the group or their qualification route, so check the points table.
The bigger question for India is the batting. Rajput was the only batter to dominate, and the top order collapsed against a Pakistan attack that picked up wickets in clusters. A better start is needed to avoid relying on one innings.
For Zahoor, it’s a break-out innings. He played the 2025 Asia Cup and the World Cup, but a hundred from number seven under pressure against India is different.
