Bulawayo: Seeking to continue its confident start to the tournament, a well-balanced India will begin as the firm favourite despite facing a tricky Bangladesh in its second match of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bulawayo on Saturday.
Five-time champion India started its campaign on expected lines, registering a six-wicket win over the USA after bundling the opponent out for a paltry 107 in a rain-hit match, with right-arm pacer Henil Patel returning exceptional figures of 5/16 in seven overs and the other bowlers also doing a fine job.
The star-studded Indian batting line-up will hope to get an extended run at the crease against Bangladesh, which is likely to pose a greater challenge to the Ayush Mhatre-led side after a rather comfortable win against the USA.
The opening duo of Mhatre and the incredible 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi will again lead the batting in the company of vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra, all-rounders Aaron George and Vedant Trivedi, and wicketkeeper Abhigyan Kundu.
D. Deepesh, RS Ambrish, Henil Patel, Kishan Kumar Singh, and Udhav Mohan offer the team pace bowling options, while the likes of Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, and Mohamed Enaan shoulder the spin bowling responsibility.
Champions in five of the 16 editions, India is by far the most dominant team in the history of the competition, which started back in 1988 with Australia emerging as the winner in the inaugural event.
Raising its prospects further is the team’s form over the previous year, having won series in England, Australia, and South Africa. The victory against the USA was India’s 14th in the last 17 matches, and the side is backing itself to continue the excellent run of form against its next opponents.
As far as Bangladesh is concerned, it has captain Azizul Hakim, who has a fair bit of experience, and a lot will depend on how he marshals his side in the tournament in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
With his deputy Zawad Abrar, Hakim will spearhead the Bangladesh batting. The duo have been prolific at the under-19 level, having scored over 1,000 runs in Youth ODIs since the last edition of the tournament in 2024. Kalam Siddiki, with 857 runs in this period, is another prolific run-getter in the side.
Bangladesh also carries a potent bowling attack, with pacers Iqbal Hossain and Al Fahad expected to get plenty of support in pace-friendly conditions in Zimbabwe.
These two are the most successful bowlers since the last U19 World Cup, with 45 and 43 wickets to their names, respectively. Not too far behind is left-arm spinner Samiun Basir, who had 29 wickets in this period, at an economy of under four. IANS
Also Read: Man United debut for Michael Carrick in derby, tough visit for Arsenal to Nottingham