U-19 World Cup: Prithvi’s boys come of age

An unbeaten run in the World Cup with five consecutive wins is not just the reason that the side is made of champion stuff, but the way it has evolved itself during the course of the tournament has been commendable. If the first win against its main opponent, Australia, by a margin of 100 runs was too good to believe, it grew in stature in subsequent matches, plugging the weak areas with clinical efficiency. 

The hero of the match against Pakistan was undoubtedly Shubman Gill, the Punjabi who was not picked by his home franchise. Gill has the making of a sound top-order batsman for the future and very soon he is likely to challenge one of those established stars in the senior side. Surprisingly, Gill was sold for less than Rs two crore in the IPL auctions while his bowling colleagues from the Under-19 team, Shivam Mani and Kamlesh Nagarkoti both netted Rs 3 crore deals. Gill was at his fluent best against Pakistan, completing his century in the last over and at the moment he has an average of over 170 in batting. He held the innings together after captain Prithvi Shaw and Manjot Kalra left in quick succession after adding 89 runs for the first wicket. 

Pakistan seemed to find its bearings with the double strike slowing down the run rate and it was left to Gill to give the team a good total to bowl at. However, Gill was not the lone performer in the win. Though Mavi and Nagarkoti had an off day with the ball, the third seamer Ishan Porel came to the party with a four-wicket haul in the first 12 overs. He broke the back of the Pakistan batting for the spinners to do the rest.

The best thing that has happened to the colts in the last few matches is its fielding. Prithvi Shaw took two brilliant catches, one to his left and the other to his right at gully and almost pulled off a third, a blinder at slip, which had bounced just in front of him. 

The only blemish in the massive victory was the running between the wickets of Prithvi and Manjot. They survived three chances in the first 10 overs and in all of them, they were a quarter of the length of the pitch short when the Pak fielders threw at the stumps and missed and as they tested providence again, Prithvi was run out when he had actually reached the crease but failed to ground the bat. 

India’s batting is top heavy and Prithvi has to iron out these minor niggles to go past the last hurdle. Australia will be licking its wounds in the final on Saturday after its first loss against India.

The BCCI will announce cash award for the Indian players for reaching the final of the U-19 cricket World Cup and also felicitate them, acting president C. K. Khanna said on Tuesday. Congratulating the team for beating Pakistan in the semi-finals in Christchurch in New Zealand on Tuesday, Khanna said, “I would like to congratulate the entire team and coach Rahul Dravid for this performance. Rahul’s contribution in guiding the Gen Next cricketers has been immense. Because of him we now have a talented pool of U-19 cricketers.” 

“The BCCI will announce cash awards and also felicitate the team,” he added. The Indian team on Tuesday thrashed arch-rival Pakistan by 203 runs in the semi-finals to enter the final for the sixth time. It will take on Australia in the summit clash on February 3.