The defending champions India under-19 open their defence in 2014 campaign with a high voltage encounter against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
India under-19 enters the tournament as one of the favourites as they have a very strong side notwithstanding the losses they encountered in the warm-up match against Sri Lanka and South Africa respectively.
Traditionally, though, Pakistan under-19 enjoys a slight edge over their Indian counterparts in the World Cup. In saying that India’s couple of wins in their last match against Pakistan in U19 world cup 2012 and in the recent Asia Cup will no doubt hold them boost their confidence going into tomorrow’s match.
Indian skipper Vijay Zol and Akhil Herwadkar were a part of the team in 2012 who won that World Cup.
Alongside Zol another player who is highly regarded in the Indian set-up is Sanju Samson as he has proved his worth in last IPL. The pair is going to be a vital to India’s fortunes as they are most senior members.
Samson has been resigned by Champions League winner Rajasthan Royals and has made a name for himself on a big stage. On the other hand, Zol has been a revelation in Ranji cricket and went to the final with his team Maharashtra.
India under-19 also have quite a few options in the bowling department with the likes of Kuldeep Singh Yadav, who was with Mumbai Indians last season, is leading the team of spinners, while Chama Milind, who was picked up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad side this year, is the lead pacer. The other support bowlers that this team has are Avesh Khan, Deepak Hooda and Aamir Gani.
Now onto India’s opposition Pakistan who may not have their team filled with big stars, but they do possess firepower to make a claim in this tournament. Sarfaraz Khan, who is the youngest cricketer in this team, has astonished one and all with his hard-hitting batting in lower middle-order. He is also a handy leg-spinner. Meanwhile, Ricky Bhui, Shreyas Iyer, and Ankush Bains are other batsmen to keep an eye on as they dazzled everyone with their talent in Asia Cup.
Pakistan, who are well-known for producing fast-bowlers, have numerous pacemen, led by Zia-ul-Haq. Mohammad Aftab and Irfanullah Shaikh will support Zia-ul-Haq with steady medium pace bowling.
Heading into this match, the only downside for defending champions India was their loss in both their warm-up encounters. In both games, the batting was didn’t really get going and hence as a result couldn’t give bowlers runs to defend. Having said that, most of the batsmen did get starts, and nothing much can be said about the bowlers as they hardly had anything to defend.
Pakistan under-19 team, on the other hand, would be keen to take revenge of their defeat in the Asia Cup last month. Pakistan had exactly the opposite fortunes in the tournament so far having won the both the warm-up matches against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia in convincing fashion. The two players to watch out are Sami Aslam, the captain, who is the leader of their batting along with the Imam-ul-Haq, who is the nephew of former Pakistan great Inzamam-ul-Haq.
No doubt there would be pressure on both sides in this high voltage contest. India, being the tournament favorites, may feel it a little more. But, it is time stop the talk and walk the walk. Fans can except a humdinger on Saturday.
