ICC U-19 World Cup: 5 players who will be key to India's success in final
Mumbai: Prithvi Shaw-led India Under-19 side will face their biggest test in the tournament when they take on Australia in the final of ICC Under-19 World Cup on Saturday. Both the teams faced each other during the league stage in which India dished out a clinical performance in all three departments to hammer Australia by 100 runs.
Apart from India’s batting, the bowlers have done a fine job for the team as they completely brushed aside the challenges in front of them. India and Australia are currently tied in terms of winning the world cup: three titles each. The final on Saturday will give chance to either of the team to lift the cup for the fourth time.
Ahead of the much-awaited clash, we look at Indian players who have impressed so far in the tournament.
Shubman Gill
The right-handed middle-order batsman and vice-captain of India’s Under-19 cricket team has become a household name after his exploits in the ongoing ICC Under-19 World Cup. The youngster is the leading run-getter for India, scoring 341 runs from 5 matches.
He scored a century in the semi-final against arch-rivals Pakistan to help the Boys in Blue set up a match-winning total. The bowlers then took the centre stage and finished the match with some outstanding bowling effort to bowl out Pakistan U-19 for 69 runs, winning the match by 203 runs.
The Indian U-19 star, who plays first-class cricket for Punjab, was brought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 1.8 crore in the recently concluded Indian Premier League player auction.
Prithvi Shaw
The Indian U-19 skipper needs no introduction. He was a prolific run-getter in school cricket. Shaw slammed a record-breaking 546 in an inter-school Harris Shield match in 2013 when he was just 14-years-old. The Mumbai batsman rose to great heights with his performance at the domestic level.
Considered as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Shaw is having a decent tournament with his bat, but with his captaincy, he has managed the team really well and is certainly the one to look at in the future. The India U-19 skipper has just scored 232 runs in five matches so far in the tournament. His highest score of 94 came against Australia in the league stage of the tournament.
Prithvi was recently signed by Delhi Daredevils (DD) for Rs 1.2 crore during the IPL player auction.
Anukul Roy
The 19-year-old has been the standout bowler for the India U-19 side in New Zealand. While Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi gained attention with their express pace, the all-rounder has quietly done the job for his team by picking wickets with his left arm spin.
The Jharkhand-born player has so far picked up 12 wickets in 5 matches with an economy of 3.65. He is currently fourth on the list of highest wicket-takers and could top the wicket list in the tournament when he plays against Australia in the final.
The youngster’s outstanding effort did not go unnoticed as he was snapped up by Mumbai Indians at his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
Anukul ‘s best performance with the ball came against Papua New Guinea, where he picked up 5-14 helped India bowl out the minnows for 64.
Shivam Mavi
The Uttar Pradesh pacer has mostly opened bowling alongside Kamlesh Nagarkoti throughout the Under-19 World Cup.
The youngster has so far impressed with his performance, picking up eight wickets and conceding 124 runs at an economy of 4.09 runs per over. His best bowling figure in the tournament came against Australia where he 3/45 to dismantle the Australian batting line-up.
Mavi was recently bought by KKR who paid Rs3 crore for his services. The 19-year-old pacer will join Nargarkoti and Shubman Gill, after both the players were bought by the same franchise in the auction.
Kamlesh Nagarkoti
The 18-year-old pacer from Rajasthan has impressed everyone with his bowling speed. Former players Ian Bishop and Sourav Ganguly have been talking a lot about the youngster, who has been clocking consistently at nearly 150 kph in the ongoing Under-19 World Cup.
Nagarkoti has taken seven wickets so far in the U-19 World Cup, with best figures of 3 for 18 against Bangladesh in the quarterfinal.
He was recently made the costliest under-19 player in the IPL Auction 2018, where he was signed by two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders for a whopping Rs 3.2 crore.
