On this day, March 2, 2008, the Indian cricket team led by Virat Kohli won the ICC Under-19 World Cup by defeating South Africa by 12 runs (D/L method) in the final of the tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A young and aggressive side won all their group matches and held a perfect record of wins in the tournament, however, a rainy final displayed India’s true nature as the young boys went on to win their second Under-19 World Cup title at the time. He was holding his nerves for
Apart from Virat Kohli, the future India captain came out as one of the biggest stars, Manish Pandey and Ravindra Jadeja were also the players who later made it big with the national cricket team.
Rain in Kuala Lumpur In case of poor play and delay, the players waited patiently for some time. South Africa won the toss and elected to field, testing India on a challenging track at the Kinara Academy Oval. Taruvar Kohli and Shreevats Goswami opened for India but a young Wayne Parnell dealt an early blow to the Indians by dismissing Taruvar for 1. Goswami soon joined in, returning to the pavilion scoring 6 runs.
Tanmay Srivastava and Captain Virat Kohli met. However, the partnership did not work out as Kohli was dropped by Peter Malan. Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey scored 20-20 runs before being dismissed. However, the added inputs were crucial as India were bowled out for 159 in 45.4 overs.
However, it rained once again in Kuala Lumpur, setting a target of 159 to 116 for South Africa in 25 overs.
Opening for South Africa, Peter Malan and JJ Smuts tested the new ball for the first time before Malan was the first wicket for India, with the opener getting dismissed for 2. The first blow was more than enough for South Africa to come under pressure, which did not result. .3 Riley Rossouw is dismissed by Ajitesh Argal. JJ Smuts was the next to depart with a score of 11/3 in 7.4 overs after being removed via run-out.
Reeza Hendrix and South Africa captain Parnell persevered and showed true passion, which let India down for a short while before Jadeja found the breakthrough, dismissing Hendrix for 35. Parnell’s wicket was crucial for India as Siddharth Kaul dismissed the captain for 29.
The lower order was not able to handle the pressure as South Africa finished with 103/8 in 25 overs, helping India win the final by 12 runs (D/L method) and clinch their second Under-19 World Cup title . Fast forward to 2022, India has now won the Under-19 World Cup five times – in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2022.
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