First Test between India and South Africa ends in a thrilling draw

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Defending champions India are overwhelming favourites to win a record fifth U19 World Cup title on Sunday but a tough fight is expected from first-timers Bangladesh in an all-Asian final.

If the India squad for the 2018 edition had the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill, who have expectedly gone on to play for the senior team, the exploits of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, spinner Ravi Bishnoi and pacer Kartik Tyagi in the current edition have made them overnight stars.

Irrespective of what happens in the final, India have reinforced the fact that they are undisputed leaders at the under-19 level and the cricketing structure the BCCI has developed is working better than any other board in the world.

India, who walloped arch-rivals Pakistan by 10 wickets in the semifinal Tuesday, will be playing their seventh final since 2000 when they lifted the trophy for the first time.

Having said that, success at the U-19 level doesn’t guarantee success at the highest level as not all players have the ability to go on and play for India. Some also lose their way like Unmukt Chand did after leading India to the title in 2012.

His career promised so much back then but now it has come to a stage where he is struggling to make the eleven in Uttarakhand’s Ranji Trophy team, having shifted base from Delhi last year.

Only the exceptionally talented like Shaw and Gill get to realise their dream as the competition is only getting tougher in the ever-improving Indian cricket.

India probably is the only side which fields a fresh squad in every U-19 World Cup edition and since there is no dearth of talent and a proper structure is in place, the talent keeps coming up.

“The fact that we allow a cricketer to play the U-19 World Cup only once is a big reason behind the team’s success. While most teams have cricketers who have played in the previous edition,” India U-19 fielding coach Abhay Sharma said from Potchefstroom.

“It just goes to show that the system under the visionary leadership of Rahul Dravid (NCA head) is flourishing. Credit to BCCI as well that other teams want to follow our structure.”

Heading to the mega event, India colts played about 30-odd games in different part of the world. To get used to the South African conditions, they played a quadrangular series before they played their World Cup opener against Sri Lanka.

In the final, India run into Bangladesh, a team which too has reaped the benefits of meticulous planning since their quarterfinal loss at the 2018 edition.

Though the Priyam Garg-led Indian side got the better of them in the tri-series in England and Asia Cup last year, Bangladesh has always come up with a fight and fielding coach Sharma expects it would be no different Sunday.

They are a very good side. There is a lot of mutual respect. I can tell you that,” he said.

Considering it is their maiden final, it is a bigger game for Bangladesh. If they win, it will be sweet revenge against the sub-continental giants, who have found a way to tame Bangladesh at the senior level in close finals including the 2018 Nidahas Trophy and 2016 World T20.

“We don’t want to take unwanted pressure. India is a very good side. We have to play our ‘A’ game and do well in all three departments. Our fans are very passionate about their cricket. I would want to tell them, keep supporting us,” said Bangladesh skipper Akbar Ali after their semifinal win over New Zealand.

Karachi, Jul 3: Pakistan limited overs captain Babar Azam is tired of his constant comparisons with India skipper Virat Kohli and says he would rather be compared to the greats at home.

Babar, six years younger to Kohli, has a long way to go in getting close to Kohli's staggering numbers across formats. The India skipper has 70 hundreds to his name and averages more than 50 in all three formats.

"I would be more happy if you compare to me say a Javed Miandad, Muhammad Yousuf or Younis Khan. Why compare me to Kohli or any Indian player?" asked the 25-year-old, who is in England with the national team, said in an online media interaction on Thursday.

Babar has scored 16 international hundreds and averages more than 50 in ODIs and T20s. In 26 Tests, he has scored 1850 runs at 45.12.

He also said that he is not targeting any English bowler for the series next month.

"I don’t see who the bowler is or his reputation. I just try to play each ball on merit. England no doubt has a top bowling attack and they have advantage of playing at home but this is a challenge I want to score runs in," he said.

Before the squad’s departure for England, Pakistan batting coach Younis Khan said that pacer Joffra Archer will be a handful for the Pakistani batsmen.

Babar said that he would try to play every English bowler on merit but conceded that after getting runs in Australia last year, he was keen to leave his footprint in the coming Test and T20 series in England.

Reminded that some former Test players had already written off Pakistan for the England series, Babar said they were entitled to their opinion.

"But we don’t have a bad team and already we have been enjoying our training. It is good to be back on the field after such a long lay-off. I think we have the bowlers to trouble them like Abbas, Naseem, Shaheen and others while we have some experience in our batting line-up."

Babar said he would love to get a triple century in a Test match.

"When you score a century, you naturally want to go on and convert that into a double or a triple century. This is something I would like to do during the Test series.

"I like to play my natural game but my selection of shots depends on the conditions and bowlers."

Babar also ruled out any problems in the Pakistan dressing room due to the presence of former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was sacked last year.

But he said that since Muhammad Rizwan had been playing in all formats for Pakistan in recent times, he would be the starting keeper in the Test series ahead of Sarfaraz.

"I think we first have to give Rizwan a proper chance and Sarfaraz is there as back up."

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.