India U-19 chase record fourth Under-19 World Cup title while West Indies seek their maiden glory when teams meet in repeat of 1983 final today
The moment is here. India are on the verge of creating history in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, the final of which will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh, on Sunday against the West Indies.
No team has won the U-19 World Cup more than three times. India, led by Jharkhand's left-handed opening batsman Ishan Kishan, are favourites to win a fourth time and leave Australia (three times), Pakistan (twice), England and South Africa (once each) far behind.
The track record of the Indian under-19 cricket team has been remarkable. Since January 2014, they have won 20 of their last 21 matches. This includes 15 straight wins since losing to England in the quarterfinals of the 2014 edition in the United Arab Emirates.
India have had a smooth sailing into the title round, winning each of their Group D matches and the knockouts convincingly. It would not be any exaggeration to say that the Indian team have not yet been stretched once in the tournament, though they have had some lapses here and there including some dropped catches and poor fielding.
Barring the form of captain Kishan, who has scored only one half-century in this tournament, the rest of the top-order has been in fine nick. Mumbai-bred Sarfaraz Khan leads the way with four half-centuries in five matches, playing responsibly at the crucial No. 4. He has curbed his attacking instincts when the team required him to stabilise the middle-order but had to blame himself for missing out on centuries when he was well set, getting out three times in the 70s.
Explosive left-handed opener and wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant has been giving the team the explosive start. Though his 18-ball half-century against Nepal and 96-ball 111 may have come against minnows Nepal and Namibia, respectively, the good news is that he has hit form after an indifferent start.
As coach Rahul Dravid said before the tournament, the Indian bowling has great variety. Led by Avesh Khan, who has 11 wickets in five matches, Indian bowlers have managed to dent the opposition top-order repeatedly.
Right-arm medium-pacer Khan and left-arm Khaleel Ahmed have formed a more-than-handy pair with the new white balls. Rahul Batham, with his medium-pace and spinners, Mayank Dagar and Mahipal Lomror, have given India vital wickets when needed.
The current players from both the sides were not even born when the two countries met in a final of the world stage, the 1983 Prudential World Cup that Kapil Dev's men won to deny Clive Lloyd's Caribbeans a hat-trick of titles.
West Indies will take this as a perfect platform to seek revenge as they aim for their maiden U-19 title.
"We are set for the final," said Kishan. "There is obviously tension before every match and this is the World Cup final. We have reached our goal, now we need to achieve that goal.
"The West Indies, too, has been playing well. It will be a good game. We just need to follow our plans. We can't think too far ahead.
"We are not worried about facing any bowler. The plan is to keep wickets in hand. If we do that we can get a big score on the board. A total of 280 should be a good score, we will try for 300."
West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer said the West Indies were not over-awed by India's unbeaten run in the tournament.
"In the semifinals, we played Bangladesh, which had also not lost a match, and we won that game. So I don't think what happened in the past matters," he said.
"India is obviously a good team and we are excited about playing the final. It is a good feeling to have reached the final. We have come a long way in the last few months.
"We have turned into a very good unit. We have a very good bunch of cricketers with us. The journey has been good. We just need to keep it simple and play our best cricket in the final.
"We will give it our best shot. Win or lose, the players will benefit immensely by the experience of taking part in the tournament."
Teams (from):
India: Ishan Kishan (C), Rishabh Pant (VC/WK), Khaleel Ahmed, Zeeshan Ansari, Rahul Batham, Ricky Bhui, Mayank Dagar, Armaan Jaffer, Sarfaraz Khan, Amandeep Khare, Avesh Khan, Mahipal Lomror, Shubham Mavi, Anmolpreet Singh, Washington Sundar
West Indies: Shimron Hetmyer (C), Shahid Crooks, Keacy Carty, Michael Frew, Jyd Goolie, Chemar Holder Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Ryan John, Kirstan Kallicharan, Gidron Pope, Keemo Paul, Odean Smith, Shamar Springer, Emmanuel Stewart
ROAD TO FINAL
INDIA
Group D: bt Ireland by 79 runs
bt New Zealand by 120 runs
bt Nepal by 7 wickets
Quarterfinals: beat Namibia by 197 runs
Semifinals: beat Sri Lanka by 97 runs
WEST INDIES
Group C: lost to England by 61 runs
bt Fiji by 262 runs
bt Zimbabwe by 2 runs
Quarterfinals: beat Pakistan by 5 wickets
Semifinals: beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets
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