U-19 World Cup: All You Need to Know About Teams in India’s Pool

India take on Australia, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe in the pool stage of the Under 19 World Cup.

Just a year after his first-class debut, Prithvi Shaw is all set to walk in the shoes that Virat Kohli once did. The 18-year-old cricketer from Mumbai will be leading India’s 15-member squad at the Under-19 cricket World Cup, starting 13 January, in New Zealand.

Three-time champions India – the joint-most successful team in the history of the tournament with Australia – last clinched the title in 2012 under the captaincy of Unmukt Chand. Before that, Virat Kohli’s under-19 team won in 2007/08 and under the leadership of Mohammad Kaif, India first won the first U19 World Cup in 1999/00.

In 2017’s edition, India reached the final, but lost to West Indies by five wickets. This time round, a total of 16 teams have been divided into four groups, from which the top eight teams will advance to the quarter-final. The Rahul Dravid-coached Indian team will be playing Australia (14 January), Papua New Guinea (16 January) and Zimbabwe (19 January) in their Pool B matches.

India’s Squad

Prithvi Shaw (Captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Manjot Kalra, Himanshu Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Aryan Juyal (wicket-keeper), Harvik Desai (wicket-keeper), Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ishan Porel, Arshdeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Shiva Singh, Pankaj Yadav

Standby Players: Om Bhosle, Rahul Chahar, Ninad Rathva, Urvil Patel, Aditya Thakare

Ahead of India’s campaign, here’s a look at the teams that India will be playing in the pool stages of the 2018 World Cup.

1. Australia

Australia didn’t participate in the previous U19 World Cup because of security concerns, but will definitely be India’s toughest competitors in the pool stage in 2018.

The three-timechampions led by Jason Jaskirat Singh Sangha, who, at 18 years 71 days, became the youngest player since Sachin Tendulkar to make a first-class century against England. Sangha is the first Indian-origin cricketer to captain an Aussie side.

Australia have won both previous Under-19 World Cups that were held in New Zealand – in 2002 and 2010.

Ryan Harris-coached Australia’s preparations for the upcoming tournament included a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka at home, which they won 4-1 in April. Austin Waugh, the son of Steve Waugh, is one of the players to have garnered a lot of attention. The team also includes Will Sutherland, the son of James Sutherland – the chief executive of Cricket Australia.

2. Zimbabwe

One of the crowd favourites in Bangladesh two years ago, Zimbabwe defeated the then defending champions South Africa in the semi-finals of the Plate championship, which decides the 9-16 positions in the tournament.

Captain Liam Roche, who has already played first-class cricket, scored an unbeaten 108 in one of the matches. Before that, he had made two half-centuries against the Windies in a series that Zimbabwe lost.

In their preparations to the upcoming World Cup, Zimbabwe have toured Malaysia, South Africa, Namibia, Australia and India. In August 2017, they defeated Kenya 4-0 in a 50-over series at home. After a long camp at home, the squad travelled to New Zealand in early December to have a month’s time to acclimatise.

3. Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea qualified for their eighth World Cup after remaining undefeated in the East Asia Pacific Qualifier 2017 in Samoa. They needed to beat Samoa in the final match, and the eight-wicket win was achieved without much difficulty.

PNG last appeared in the 2014 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and missed 2017’s edition after losing to Fiji in the qualifiers.

In their first warm-up match of the 2018 Under 19 World Cup, the Hebou PNG Garamuts lost to defending champions West Indies by seven wickets while their match against New Zealand was washed out without a ball being bowled.

With just Australia as one of their big opponents, India are favourites to be one of the two teams that reach the knockout stage of the Under 19 World Cup.

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