Yash Dhull, India U19 skipper said that the learnings from legend VVS Laxman are holding his side in good stead in the ongoing tournament, after India progressed to the Super League semi-finals of the ongoing U19 World Cup.
A spirited bowling performance backed up by a quality knock by Angkrish Raghuvanshi helped India defeat Bangladesh by five wickets in the quarterfinal on Saturday.
Yash Dhull: VVS Laxman’s Experience Is A Lot Of Help To U19 Cricketers
India skipper Yash Dhull says the team stuck together to tide over a tumultuous phase and reach the semifinals of the ICC U-19 World Cup, following multiple COVID-19 positive cases in the squad. India barely managed to field a playing XI for their group match against Ireland after as many as six players, the captain included, returned positive for the highly contagious virus.
The team showed resilience in the face of adversity and kept winning their matches, the latest being the five-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The return of five players after they had tested negative for the virus was a big boost for the team ahead of the last-eight clash.
Yash Dhull thanked National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman for his guidance during the tournament. The former India batter has accompanied the team to the West Indies.
“Our team combination has been very good and the boys are gelling well. Whenever someone is down, we all get together to bring them up. It is a lifetime experience here. The team is improving day by day. Laxman sir giving his experience gives us a lot of help in the middle. We will look at the semis on the day of the match depending on how the wicket is,” said Dhull after the game.
The four-time winners will face Australia in the semifinals on Wednesday. Earlier, Yash Dhull, along with five players, were forced to miss two group games after returning positive tests.
Ravi Kumar Adjudged Player Of the Match Against Bangladesh Reveals Plan Was To Bowl Tight Lines And Create Pressure
Ravi Kumar was adjudged as Player of the Match as the pacer took three wickets to bundle out Bangladesh for just 111. Player of the Match in the quarterfinal against Bangladesh, pacer Ravi Kumar ended with excellent figures of 7-1-14-3 on a tacky track as Bangladesh were all out for 111 in 37.1 overs.
In reply, India chased down the target in 30.5 overs with opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 44 being the top score.
“The plan was simple – to bowl tight lines and create pressure. Preparation was nice during the last few days. We spent a lot of time together and prepared well. It’s been a good experience so far and we hope we can go all the way,” said Ravi Kumar.
With this win, India will now lock horns against Australia in the Super League semi-final on Wednesday, February 2.
Chasing 112, India got off to a bad start as the Yash Dhull-led side lost opener Harnoor Singh (0) in the second over of the innings bowled by Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Angkrish Raghuvanshi and vice-captain Shaik Rasheed got together at the crease to see out the opening spells of Bangladesh’s new-ball bowlers.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi and vice-captain Shaik Rasheed put on 70 runs for the second wicket and the partnership was finally broken in the 21st over as Ripon Mondol got the better of Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44) and this brought skipper Yash Dhull to the middle.
Soon after, Shaik Rasheed (26) and Siddarth Yadav (6) also perished and India was reduced to 82/4 in the 24th over. In the end, Indian U19 skipper Yash Dhull (20*) and Kaushal Tambe (11*) guided India to a five-wicket win with 19.1 overs to spare.