Antigua: No side in this edition of the U-19 ICC Cricket World Cup has been as dominating as the Yash Dhull-led India as they went on to lift their fifth trophy, defeating England by four wickets in the final played at the Sir Vivian Richard stadium.
With VVS Laxman there to guide them all through, and with an all-rounder like Raj Bawa, even the COVID-19 setback could not stop the team from emerging victors and, in the process, denying England — who last won the trophy in 1998 — the title.
Just how dominating India were can be gauged from the fact that it hit the highest team score of the tournament (405/5 vs Uganda), posted the highest individual score of the tournament (Raj Bawa’s unbeaten 162 and did not allow an opponent to score in excess of 200 runs in any of their six matches.
Here are the key talking points from the final:
India worthy winners of record fifth title
No country has dominated Under-19 Men’s international cricket like India for more than 20 years now. The four-wicket win in Antigua means that India have won the trophy five times in 22 years, finishing runners-up in a further three tournaments in that period.
India were peerless with spin, with Vicky Ostwal the stand-out bowler. They bowled well with pace too, while their top-order also contributed significant knocks throughout the tournament.
In the final, it was all-rounder Bawa who was a trailblazer with the ball, taking India’s first-ever five-for in an U-19 World Cup final, before vice-captain Shaik Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu smashed patient half-centuries in the successful run-chase.
While there is no guarantee that these players will become full-India internationals, it can easily be said that there is plenty of talent and attitude in the squad to do just that.
Raj Bawa delivers on the big stage
All-rounder Raj Bawa hails from a family of sportspersons, with his father a respected cricket coach who helped Yuvraj Singh hone his skills. His grandfather was part of India’s gold medal-winning Olympic hockey team at the 1948 London Games. The 19-year-old Bawa carried on his family’s sporting tradition with an amazing performance in the final, taking a brilliant 5/31 with his right-arm pace bowling before contributing a handy 35 with the bat en-route to victory.
Bawa’s five-for was the first by an Indian bowler in eight U-19 World Cup finals, and included some big scalps too.
His unbeaten 162 against Uganda in the group stage, also makes him only the second Indian U-19 men’s player in the country’s history to take a five-wicket haul and hit a score over 150 at an ICC event, following in the footsteps of the legendary Kapil Dev.
England’s Rew and Boyden a class apart
James Rew is rated as one of the most promising batters in this generation of England players, but hadn’t really clicked at the tournament prior to the final. The 18-year-old had reached double figures in all five of his innings, yet had not progressed beyond 29 in any, according to ICC.
But, with his team in deep trouble, Rew delivered on the biggest stage, hitting a fine 95 to give his side a chance.
The youngster smashed 12 boundaries in his impressive innings, accelerating after initially anchoring the rebuilding process. He was unfortunate not to finish the final with a century to his name, caught in the deep five runs short of his ton.
England’s Joshua Boyden also had another impressive showing in the final, striking yet again with the new ball to finish as the leading wicket-taker amongst all the fast bowlers at the tournament. The 17-year-old left-arm seamer took wickets in all six of his matches here, and helped build pressure too.
IANS