Vihaan Malhotra was a part of the Indian team that won the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup earlier this year in Zimbabwe
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Vihaan Malhotra celebrates after hitting century on his Ranji Trophy debut for Punjab(Photo: Special arrangement – PCA)
Punjab batter Vihaan Malhotra has made a strong start to his first-class career by scoring a century on his Ranji Trophy debut against AssamThe 19-year-old scored 103 runs, hitting 11 fours, as he helped Punjab reach 287/5 in response to the North Eastern outfit’s first-innings total of 373.
Malhotra’s innings came after he was part of India’s Under-19 team that won the World Cup in February 2026The youngster said scoring a century in his first Ranji Trophy match had given him confidence as he looks to move from junior cricket to the senior level.
“I was coming into the IPL after the Under-19 World Cup, and one of the major conversations I had with Dinesh Karthik sir was about how to be ready for all three formats and the transition from Under-19 to the senior levelAfter India’s Under-19 World Cup win, my thoughts were on carrying that confidence into my first Ranji Trophy seasonA century in my debut match gives a lot of confidence,” Malhotra told The Indian Express.
Punjab gave Malhotra an opportunity at the top of the order in the absence of Prabhsimran Singh, who was away on India A dutyHe made the most of the chance, sharing a 137-run opening partnership with Harnoor Singh, who scored 54.
Malhotra later added 58 runs with captain Uday Saharan to keep Punjab in the contestHowever, Punjab lost wickets at regular intervals and ended the third day still trailing Assam by 86 runs.
Vihaan’s coach confident about him doing well across all three formats
Vihaan Malhotra’s progress has been backed by careful preparationAfter playing in the Sher-E-Punjab League, he worked on adjusting his batting to the demands of red-ball cricketHis coach, Kamal Sandhu, said the focus was on playing the ball late, leaving deliveries outside off stump and getting used to longer spells at the crease.
Sandhu also said Malhotra has all the skills required to play all three formatsThe training included facing new and semi-new balls, working on his pull and sweep shots, and practicing against deliveries aimed at the fifth- and sixth-stump lines.
“Vihaan is a technically sound playerIt was just about making some adjustments in his game for the multi-day format at the senior levelStraight after the Sher-E-Punjab league, he was in Patiala to train, and our focus was to make him bat on the centre wicket with side-arm bowlers bowling good-length balls mostly on the fifth and sixth-stump line with an occasional bouncer every over,” Kamal Sandhu said.
Sandhu further stated that it was important for Vihaan to train his mind into leaving balls early and develop every textbook cricketing shot“He had to train his mind to leave the balls early in his inningsHe has almost all the shots in his book,” Sandhu concluded.
Malhotra had already made a name for himself in age-group cricketHe scored 277 runs in two Youth Tests in England last year and followed it with 243 runs in five Youth ODIsAt the Under-19 World Cup, he scored 240 runs, including a century against Zimbabwe and also picked up five wickets.
