In a quest to feature in their fourth ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup final in a row, India will take on a dominant Australia in the second semi-final of this this edition of the Youth World Cup at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Wednesday.
India have had an excellent tournament, at least on the field. Their efforts were not impacted heavily by a Covid-19 outbreak in the camp that led to the two best batters in the side – captain Yash Dhull and vice-captain Shaik Rasheed – miss out on two matches. Even stand-in captain Nishant Sindhu had to miss the quarter-final against Bangladesh for the same reason.
Thankfully, India have all their players available for selection now.
Going into this game, India's only concern is their patchy batting line-up that struggled against South Africa and during a small chase against Bangladesh. Opener Harnoor Singh had got an an unbeaten hundred to help India beat Australia by nine wickets while chasing down 269 in a warm-up game in Guyana. Since then, he has had scores of 1, 88, 15, 0.
Apart from Harnoor, the Indian camp will also want to see Rasheed convert his starts into significant contributions. Down the order, Dinesh Bana, who was quite surprisingly preferred as the first-choice wicketkeeper ahead of Aaradhya Yadav, is due with the bat as well.
On the other hand, the Indian camp should be pleased with the form of Angrish Raghuvanshi and Raj Bawa as well as useful contributions with bat from the all-rounders.
India have the best bowling average in the competition (14.11). The pace of Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Ravi Kumar and the spin of Vicky Ostwal, Kaushal Tambe and Nishant Sindhu in the middle-overs have been a formidable force. Australia's defeat against a spin-heavy Sri Lanka in one of their league game, will give India hope.
Speaking of Australia, they, too, have a strong line-up with depth in all three departments. Like India, they lost key players to Covid-19 as well, but are now ready to field a full squad.
Australia have a superstar in the making in opener Teague Wyllie. Only 17, Wyllie has been a star of the World Cup, with two fifties and a hundred. His fellow opener Campbell Kellaway also has been amongst the runs. In the middle-order, captain Cooper Connolly, Corey Miller, and Aidan Cahill have made significant contributions.
Of bowlers, pacer Tom Whitney averages under 13 in the tournament, while leg-spinner William Salzmann has taken seven wickets. And at the Coolidge ground, one of the lowest-scoring venues in this World Cup, there will be a lot to offer from the surface for these bowlers.
Likely XIs
India Under 19s: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harnoor Singh, Yash Dhull (c), Shaik Rasheed, Raj Bawa, Nishant Sindhu, Kaushal Tambe, Dinesh Bana (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Vicky Ostwal, Ravi Kumar
Australia Under 19s: Campbell Kellaway, Teague Wyllie, Corey Miller, Cooper Connolly (c), Lachlan Shaw, Aidan Cahill, William Salzmann, Tobias Snell (wk), Tom Whitney, Jack Sinfield, Jack Nisbet
Fantasy tips
- Try to pick Australian batters and Indian bowlers.
- It is unlikely to be a high-scoring contest. Go for a bowling-heavy XI.
- Indian spinners are expected to do well against Aussie batters. Pick the likes of Ostwal and Tambe in your fantasy XI.