The Indian cricket team won their fifth title at the U-19 Cricket World Cup in grand style with Dinesh Bana hammering a couple of sixes to finish things off. India is the most decorated team in the tournament and have gone unbeaten at the U-19 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Captained by Yash Dhull, the Indian team battled COVID-19 but still dominated the tournament, producing emphatic results from the get go, on their way to the title.
On the day of the final, the players put on yet another brilliant show as the team created history in Antigua. All-rounder Raj Bawa was the star of the day for India, picking a five-wicket haul and scoring 35 very handy runs at a crucial stage in the chase of 190.
So who have been among the top performers for the India U-19 side at the World Cup?
Yash Dhull
An India U-19 captain who hails from Delhi and is a classy right handed batter, now where have we seen that before?
Will he follow the footsteps of a certain Virat Kohli? While that is definitely not a conversation for now, Dhull has led the team from the front in the World Cup, scoring important runs. Unfortunately, he was hit by COVID-19 which kept him away from the games for a while but he started off well with an 82-run knock against a tough South African side.
Assured and classy at the crease, Dhull turned up the style in the semi-final against Australia and led brilliantly in the final against England. Having missed games due to COVID-19, he may not have the numbers as he'd like but Dhull's presence was essential in India's title winning run.
Yash is India's fifth captain to win the U-19 World Cup title, a list that includes Mohammed Kaif and Virat Kohli as well. Yash scored 229 runs in 4 innings.
Vicky Ostwal
He is possibly the best bowler in the current India U-19 squad and he started off the World Cup with a fabulous spell of 5/28 against South Africa. Through the World Cup he picked a total of 12 wickets and was the most successful of the Indian bowlers.
The left arm spinner's guile had been key for India in the run up to the final, and even though he didn't get wickets in the final, his tight bowling helped restrict England.
Raj Bawa
Among India’s better batters at the U-19 World Cup, Bawa created history in the game against Uganda with an unbeaten 162. His innings became the highest individual score by an Indian batter in U-19 World Cup history.
In a total of 4 innings that he played, Bawa has scored 252 runs and smashed 19 boundaries and 10 sixes. Not only with the bat but also with the ball, Bawa has played an important role for India at the tournament, picking big wickets in the game against South Africa. He finished with 9 wickets to his name.
In the final, it was a case of cometh the hour cometh the man, as Bawa picked a five-wicket haul and derailed England's middle-order. He then added 35 crucial runs to the cause to help India complete the chase of 190 and win the fifth title.
Bawa was named Player of the Match in the final.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
The opener has been one of the top performers across teams at the U-19 World Cup and has scored plenty of runs for his side. In the World Cup, Raghuvanshi scored 278 runs with a century and half-century to go. The opening batter has smacked 39 fours and six maximums and was India's highest run-getter in the tournament.
A dependable batter at the top of the order, Raghuvanshi however did not have the best game against England in the final.
His superb batting in the tournament though was key to India's unbeaten title winning run.
Ravi Kumar
The left arm pacer did not start the tournament very well but as soon as the knockouts came by, Ravi Kumar flicked on a switch. The pacer was instrumental in the final legs of the World Cup for India with crucial blows at regular intervals.
He bowled a spell of 3/14 against Bangladesh and then one of 2/37 against Australia in the semi-final. In the final, Ravi was on fire, striking in his first couple of overs as he finished with figures of 4/34 against England, helping restrict them to a moderate total. He finished as India’s second most successful bowler in the tournament with 10 wickets to his name.
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