U-19 World Cup: Stars of tomorrow meet today

PTI

Benoni (South Africa), Feb 10

Few careers will get wings to soar while some will fade into oblivion, but tomorrow the Indian youngsters will leave no stone unturned to win a record sixth ICC U-19 World Cup when they face Australia in the summit clash here.

On November 19 last year, their seniors had battled for supremacy, leaving the Rohit Sharma-led India teary-eyed on a global stage. And for their successors, the likes of Uday Saharan, Sachin Dhas, Musheer Khan and Saumy Pandey, beating an Aussie team would be sweet.

“No, we are not thinking about revenge. We are firmly focussed on present and we neither want to dwell on past or look too far ahead,” skipper Saharan had recently said.

Though revenge might not be on their mind, but that defeat would certainly drive their cause in one way or another.

The Aussies have a quartet which could spell trouble for India: skipper Hugh Weibgen, opener Harry Dixon, seamers Tom Straker and Callum Vidler have been some their consistent performers so far.

India U-19 had beaten Australia in the 2012 and 2018 finals, and will again start favourites in the final.

The current team led by Saharan, didn’t initially look like a great outfit as it failed to enter the final of the U-19 Asia Cup a couple of months back. But here, all pieces of the puzzle have fallen in place.

Led by Saharan, who is leading the batting charts with 389 runs, the team’s performance got better with each match and the only time it has been pushed to a corner in the tournament was in the semifinal where it pipped hosts South Africa by a solitary wicket.

Two players have particularly stood out, and looked cut out for bigger things. One is young Maharashtra batter Sachin, who has revelled in the role of a finisher, and left-arm spinner Pandey, who has so far taken 17 wickets.

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