U-19 team beat South Africa by 201 runs in final of Quadrangular series, coach Bharat Arun says team is peaking at the right time just months before the all-important WC.
India Under-19 coach Bharat Arun was a happy man on Saturday. His team continued its dominance in junior cricket with a splendid win over South Africa by 201 runs in final of the Quadrangular Series in Vizag on Saturday.
This was the third title for the Vijay Zol-led Indian team this season in as many series. The previous wins came at the four-nation series in Australia followed by a bilateral series in Sri Lanka.
In the final at Dr YS Rajashekhara Reddy Stadium, India’s brilliant bowling effort saw them bundle out South Africa — chasing 267 — for a mere 66 runs in 28.1 overs on a slow track.
The coach said the hard work has paid off. “It is a great morale-boosting victory for us. We have been working very hard and it has paid off. Ultimately our goal is to win the World Cup before that whatever we win is a big boost,” said Arun.
On the comprehensive win against South Africa in the final, after losing to the Proteas in the league match, their only loss in the series, he said: “A defeat is as important. We learnt a lesson after that loss. In fact that defeat worked in our favour as we came to know about our weaknesses. In the final the wicket was slow hence we had to adopt a strategy running singles and doubles,” he said.
With only a few months left for the World Cup, Arun said the preparation is on course. “It has been excellent. We have been playing a lot of matches. We played in Australia, Sri Lanka and now India. Later we have Asia Cup before the World Cup in December which will help us get used to the conditions ahead of the Cup. BCCI has organised camps for the U-19 which has been helping a lot.
We have the best structure for grassroot in the world which has been the reason behind our success at the U-19 level,” he said.
Arun is excited with the talent in his team. “If you look at the batting, we have four boys who scored 100, two made 90s, and another four came up with four 50s. Our bowlers, too, have been fantastic, however, it would be unfair from my side to take any individual’s name. I would say it is a complete team effort,” he said refusing to pick any one name.
With the kind of extraordinary results, isn’t he afraid of his team peaking early ahead of the World Cup. “I dont look at it like that. We take it one thing at a time.
In fact, we are not even thinking of the World Cup. Now, our focus will be on the Asia Cup. We break it down to match by match rather than be worried about peaking too early. We will celebrate and live the moment today, but leave it behind tommorrow,” said Arun.
Impressed with India U-19 results, even Australian great Greg Chappell wants to know the secret of their success.
“I had a long interaction with Chappell and he wanted to know about our system in U-19. I think BCCI has probably one of the best junior cricket system. We spend a lot of time in annual camps and national cricket academy. Those aspects really help boys hone their skills,” he said.
Brief scores: India U-19 267/6 in 50 overs (V Zol 71, S Khan 67, R Bhui 46, D Hooda 32; J Dill 3/63) beat South Africa 66 all out in 28.1 overs (J Smith 23; A Gani 3/18, S Khan 2/9, K Yadav 2/13) by 201 runs
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