by Deepanshu Srivastava

Indian Under – 19 cricket team gave cricket lovers a perfect new year gift on February 6, 2022, when they not only lifted the coveted ICC U – 19 World Cup trophy for the fifth time but they also made their dominance in the entire tournament by winning all the six matches they had played, a rare feat indeed. It was a sweet coincidence that the day Team South Africa (Sr.) was celebrating the Freedom Test series – win over Team India (Sr.), Indian colts defeated the Proteas (Jr.) in their opening game.

In this 14th edition of the game, 16 teams had participated including mighty Australia and England and was held in West Indies. The 50 over format games and round-robin and knockout format tournament was led by 19-year-old Delhi’s lad Yash Dhull. With his sensible and controlled shots all along the ground, Dhull became the third Indian captain of hitting a century in the U – 19 WC after Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand. His heroics of hitting a century in the semi-final against Australia guaranteed a place for Team India in the final. Before this WC Dhull also led Team India in U – 16 and U – 19 Asia Cups. Throughout his captaincy in this World Cup Dhull did not let pressure affect him and kept himself calm like India’s s ex-captain – cool MS Dhoni. Many cricket experts find a resemblance in his game with that of KL Rahul. With this victory, the Indian colts became instrumental in shedding away the gloom created over Indian cricket due to three consecutive defeats of Team India (Sr.) – WC 2021, the Freedom Test series trophy, and T – 50 series with South Africa, all played at foreign soils.

Before writing about the players who made this victory possible, let us have a closer look at the final clash of the tournament.

#. THE FINAL – It was played at Antigua and was the sixth match of the tournament for Team India. The opponent was England which has dashing and hitter batters and quality speedsters. Bowling first, Indian bowlers stunned the cricketing community by restricting England to 189. At one stage miracle was done by the Indian pacers when they contained the top 7 English batters to a meager 91. However, due to the sole effort of James Rew (95 off 116 balls), England’s s innings could reach a total of 189. Chasing
190 Team India got a blow when its highest run-scorer for India (278) opener Raghuvanshi got out for a duck in the very first over. However, with the steady knocks of Nishant Sindhu (50*) and Rasheed (50), the Indian victory inched closer. Stumper Dinesh Bana finished the final in style when he hit two consecutive sixes to reach the target and sealed the match for India taking India to its fifth U – 19 World Cup title.

Indian colts played all their six matches as one unit under the able leadership of skipper Dhull. Unlike Team India (Sr.), this team’s enthusiasm, passion, and do-or-die approach were the main highlights of Team India’s s performance. The mammoth 204 run partnership between Dhull and Rasheed, magical spells of left-arm orthodox spinner Vicky Ostwal (av. – 13. 33), the spectacular shots of Bawa all along the ground, and cuts, drives, and hooks of captain Dhull have all mesmerized the Indian sports lovers during the tournament.

With the proper guidance, these petals can blossom into cricketers of international standards and they will serve Indian cricket for a long time to come.

About The Author:

Deepanshu Srivastava, a freelance sports writer, and a storyteller is from Pune and may be reached through [email protected]