This is the fourth time in a row that India - a four-time champion - will be appearing in the last-four stage of the competition.
Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shubhman Gill...so many cricketers who we see in the Indian cricket scenes have burst from the U19 circuit. In fact, most of them have even gone on to win the ICC U19 World Cup trophy and it looks like the new generation is looking to carry the same momentum forward.
The current lot of young lads have taken India to the semi-finals after defeating defending champions Bangladesh in a tricky quarter-final clash on Saturday in Antigua. The bowler-friendly pitch did not allow the Bangladesh side to score more as they gave India a low-chasing total.
This is the fourth time in a row that India - a four-time champion - will be appearing in the last-four stage of the competition, so here's a brief look at the Men in Blue's journey so far. India was pooled in Group B alongside South Africa, Ireland and Uganda.
1. Match 1: India defeated South Africa by 45 Runs
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India started their campaign against South Africa. Where the senior team could not manage even one victory against the Proteas, the U19 side went on to defeat them by 45 runs at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on January 15.
After being put to bat first, the South African side landed India early blows as they dismissed both openers, however, skipper Yash Dhull's responsible 82 along with his partnership with Shaik Rasheed helped India recover. Dhull was the top-scorer of the innings, while Kaushal Tambe made 35 and Rasheed struck 31 in a total of 232-all out.
They then bundled out the opposition for 187 in 45.4 overs, with left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal (5/28) and pacer Raj Bawa (4/47) doing the bulk of the damage.
Chasing 233, South Africa colts lost opener Ethan John Cunningham (0) in the first over as he was trapped in front by pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar (1/38).
But Valintine Kitime (25) and Dewald Brevis (65), who idolizes AB de Villiers, then rallied the innings with a 58-run stand. The duo played patiently and hit the loose balls away as South Africa cantered to 38 for 1 after 10 overs. But Ostwal broke the stand after removing Kitime, who edged to stumper Dinesh Bana in the 12th over.
It soon became 83 for 3 as Ostwal struck again, this time dismissing GJ Maree (8), who was caught by Bana in the 21st over.
Thereafter, India did not allow any other South African batter to settle down. Bawa sent back a well-set Brevis, who was caught by rival skipper Dhull in the 36th over and that triggered a collapse for the rainbow nation.
2. COVID-19 strikes Indian camp
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After a good victory against South Africa, things went south for India as five members of the U19 squad were unavailable for their second group clash, against Ireland on January 19.
Captain Yash Dhull, vice-captain Rasheed, Aaradhya Yadav, Manav Parakh and Siddarth Yadav were part of that group that had tested COVID-19 positive and had missed both the Ireland and Uganda fixtures.
In fact, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to fly in reinforcements to make sure the India side has at least a proper playing XI.
3. Match 2: COVID-hit India storm past Ireland by 174 runs
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India had thrashed minnows Ireland by a whopping 174 runs in their second league game at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, in which they barely managed to field a playing XI.
the team fielded only the available 11 players after six members of the side were forced into isolation after testing COVID positive. Led by stand-in captain Nishant Sindhu, India was put in to bat first.
India first rode on Harnoor Singh's brisk 88, which was well complemented by a run-a-ball 79 by his opening partner Angkrish Raghuvanshi, to post a challenging 307 for five. The Hrishikesh Kanitkar-coached side then bundled out the opposition for a meagre 133 in 39 overs to register a comfortable win.
Left-handed Harnoor and Angriksh stitched a 164-run stand at the top to ensure Indian bowlers had a decent total to defend. While Harnoor hit 12 fours in his 101-ball knock, Angriksh found 10 boundaries and two sixes.
Stand-in skipper Nishant Sindhu (36 off 34; 5x4s) and Raj Bawa (42 off 64; 2x4s; 1x6) shared a 64-run stand for the third wicket, ensuring that the platform created by the openers was well-utilised to set a big score.
Just when it seemed India lacked enough firepower towards the end as big hits had dried up, Rajvardhan Hangargekar hit five sixes, including a hat-trick of maximums in the last over, in his fiery 17-ball 39-run unbeaten cameo that took India past the 300-run mark.
Chasing 308, Ireland was teetering at 17 for three after losing both openers Liam Doherty (7), David Vincent (8) and one-down Jack Dickson (0) cheaply inside the first seven overs.
Ireland never recovered from the early blows as right-arm medium pacer Garv Sangwan (2/23) sent back skipper Tim Tector (15) in the 15th over, to leave the side reeling at 36 for four. Wicket-keeper Joshua Cox (28 off 46 balls) tried to take the game deep, but it was too little and too late.
4. Match 3: India beat Uganda by a record margin of 326 runs
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The game against Uganda could easily be a clash to break records as Raj Bawa surpassed Shikhar Dhawan's record for the highest individual score by an Indian batter at the U19 World Cup. He made 162 not out off 108 with 14 fours and eight sixes.
Opener Raghuvanshi also recorded a big score, hitting 144 off 120 with 22 fours and four sixes as the Men in Blue racked up a mammoth 405/5 after being put in to bat first by Uganda.
In their chase, only captain Pascal Murungi (34) could manage to score any significant runs as Uganda were skittled for 79 in 19.4 overs. Sindhu starred with the ball and took 4/19 which helped India enjoy their biggest ever U19 World Cup victory (in terms of run-margin). They topped the group and had entered the quarter-finals unbeaten.
5. Skipper Yash Dhull & Co recover from COVID-19 and available for knockouts
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While India did manage to make it to the quarter-finals, they still needed their skipper and best players on the field and surely, the cricketers who had suffered due to COVID-19 had recovered.
Yash Dhull and four other India cricketers recovered from the virus in time to play against defending champions Bangladesh. Sindhu had become the latest to test positive and thus was ruled out. Vasu Vats was also ruled out from the remainder of the tournament after suffering a hamstring injury with Aaradhya replacing him in the squad.
6. Quarter-final: India beat Bangladesh by five wickets
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After all the drama that had taken place in 2020 final, with Bangladesh winning it and some players even getting fined for bad behaviour, India got their sweet revenge.
India had won the toss and opted to bowl first against the defending champions in Antigua. Ravi Kumar wreaked havoc as he took the first three wickets in a five-over spell leaving Bangladesh struggling at 14/3.
Tambe then took two wickets in an over before SM Meherob (30) and Ashiqur Zaman's (16) useful contributions helped them cross the 100-run mark. However, they could not do much as they were bowled out for 111 in 37.1 overs though.
When India came in to chase, they faced a blow as opener Harnoor was sent back for a three-ball duck, however, Raghuvanshi along with Rasheed added 70 runs for the second wicket.
A four-wicket burst from Ripon Mondol did raise Bangladesh's flickering hopes, but skipper Dhull (20*) and Tambe (11*) did not let it last and chased down the small target in 30.5 overs.
India will now face Australia who won two of their group matches to enter the quarters and then they crushed Pakistan by 119 runs to enter the semi-finals.
