India have qualified for the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup 2022 with their fourth win on the trot. The squad, led by Yash Dhull, edged past defending champions Bangladesh in a tricky quarter-final clash on Saturday in Antigua. This is the fourth time in a row that India, a four-time champions, will be appearing in the last-four stage of the competition.
It’s not been a smooth ride for the former champions though as there was a time during the tournament when they struggled to put together a fit eleven when several members of their squad got infected with covid including both captain Dhull and his deputy Shaik Rasheed.
Here’s a brief look at their journey so far:-
India were pooled in Group B alongside South Africa, Ireland and Uganda.
Match 1: Defeated South Africa by 45 Runs
In their tournament opener, India faced a tough challenge from South Africa at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on January 15. They were put in to bat first and Aphiwe Mnyanda landed early blows when he got rid of both their openers inside the first six overs. Dhull and Rasheed combined to put their innings on track with a 71-run partnership for the third wicket. Dhull was the top-scorer of the innings, hitting 82 off 100 while Kaushal Tambe made 35 and Rasheed struck 31 in a total of 232-all out.
Right-arm pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar struck with the fourth delivery of the South Africa ins before Dewald Brevis led the recovery, hitting a half-century. Then Vicky Ostwal (5/28) and Raj Bawa (4/47) combined to trigger a collapse as South Africa were bowled out for 187 in 45.4 overs.
Covid Strikes Indian Camp
Five members of the India U-19 squad were unavailable for their second group clash, against Ireland on January 19 after a covid outbreak. Captain Dhull, vice-captain Rasheed, Aaradhya Yadav, Manav Parakh and Siddarth Yadav were part of that group and missed both the Ireland and Uganda fixtures. BCCI had to fly in reinforcements.
Match 2: Thrash Ireland by 174 Runs
A depleted India, led by stand-in captain Nishant Sindhu, took on Ireland at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. They put on a batting clinic with openers Harnoor Singh (88) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (79) hitting half-centuries before useful contributions from the middle-order fired them to huge 307/5. In reply, Ireland crumbled against Indian bowlers as they were bowled out for a paltry 133 in 39 overs.
Match 3: Beat Uganda by a Record Margin of 326 Runs
Raj Bawa broke Shikhar Dhawan’s record for the highest individual score by an Indian batter at the U19 World Cup. He made 162 not out off 108 with 14 fours and eight sixes. Opener Raghuvanshi also recorded a big score, hitting 144 off 120 with 22 fours and four sixes as India racked up a mammoth 405/5 after being put in to bat first by Uganda.
In their chase, only captain Pascal Murungi (34) could manage a score of any significance as Uganda were skittled for 79 in 19.4 overs. Sindhu starred with the ball, taking 4/19 helping India to their biggest ever U19 WC win (in terms of run-margin). They topped the group, entering quarter-finals unbeaten.
Dhull & Co Recover and Available For Knockouts
While Dhull and four other India cricketers recovered from covid-19, Sindhu became the latest to test positive and thus was ruled out. Vasu Vats was also ruled out from the remainder of the tournament after a hamstring injury with Aaradhya replacing him in the squad.
Quarter-final: Beat Bangladesh by Five Wickets
India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Ravi Kumar wreaked havoc as he took three wickets in a five-over spell to leave Bangladesh struggling at 14/3. Tambe then took two wickets in an over to leave them at sea before useful contributions from SM Meherob (30) and Ashiqur Zaman (16) helped them cross the 100-run mark. They were bowled out for 111 in 37.1 overs though.
India did lose opener Harnoor for a three-ball duck but Raghuvanshi and Rasheed combined to add 70 runs for the second wicket to put their side on course. A four-wicket burst from Ripon Mondol did raise Bangladesh’s flickering hopes but Dhull (20*) and Tambe (11*) helped their team overhaul the small target in 30.5 overs.
India will now face Australia who won two of their group matches to enter the quarters and then they crushed Pakistan by 119 runs to enter the semi-finals.
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