PREVIEW
Follow UsYet another ICC Under-19 World Cup and yet another final for India. And just like the senior men’s World Cup last year, Uday Saharan’s India would be up against an Australian side that has played exhilarating and confident cricket in the semifinals against a team in green.
The Indian side have had a great tournament so far, where they weren’t challenged much until the semifinals. Until then, the pattern of play had been the same for India - bat first, bat big, choke the opposition with spin and let the scoreboard pressure insinuate the rest of the demolition job.
It was the South African pacers Kwena Maphaka and Tristan Luus who did the early damage for India and Australia have more than enough firepower to repeat that fast-bowling carnage. The final will be played on the same ground - Benoni, so expect the conditions to favour the pace bowlers early on. The pitch has ample pace, seam and bounce and the Indian batters will be in for a real test.
Callum Vidler has impressed every expert who has watched him bowl in this tournament with his pace and swinging yorkers. The consistency and control with which he has managed to land the ball in the block hole along with imparting late swing on it is incredible for some still in his teens. 12 wickets in five games at an average of just above 10 shows that.
Vidler has been supported immensely by the likes of Tom Straker and Mahli Beardman. Straker recently became the bowler with the best figures in an Under-19 World Cup knockout game.
If India wish to be successful in the pursuit of their sixth title in their ninth final, they’ll have to come prepared for this ‘fast-paced challenge’ of Australia.
Both teams are looking properly stacked for the finals, and there are some quite interesting battles to look forward to.
Australia pacers vs Indian top-order
India faced their first stiff challenge on that very spicy deck against Maphaka and Luus and were found wanting in their technique of dealing with bounce. Musheer Khan, who is the second-highest run scorer of the tournament, couldn’t keep down his poke at a delivery that came in and bounced. Meanwhile, Arshin Kulkarni failed to use the advantage of his height to combat the bounce and was dismissed in a similar fashion, caught at slips.
Straker is exactly the kind of bowler who can repeat what Luus did to Musheer and Arshin in the semi-final with his hit-the-deck bowling. He is in red-hot form and already has broken the record for the best bowling figures in an Under-19 World Cup knockout game.
If Australia somehow manage to remove the Indian top order, which is quite well equipped to deal with and excel at the pace bowling challenge, then they’ll have increased their chances of beating India in an Under-19 World Cup final for the first time.
The last two times, in 2012 and 2018, Indian top order batters Unmukt Chand and Manjot Kalra batted big to win their team the trophy.
However, this time, India have a big cushion of two immensely talented teenage batting sensations - Uday Saharan and Sachin Dhas.
Uday and Sachin's 'Song of Ice and Fire'
Uday Saharan loves to take his time. Even before taking his stance, he very carefully gets in position in front of the stumps, looks down to see his feet position and then widens his eyes and squirms his face to have ultimate focus while defending the ball. He knows if he stays long enough, there will be ample opportunities to cash in later. In the world of flashy Vande Bharats, he is the good old Rajdhani - just a bit slow but always steady and definitely efficient.
Sachin Dhas looks too much in rhythm not to play his shots. After India were reduced to 32 for 4 against South Africa, he batted at more than a run-a-ball for most of his innings. The bat looks like an extension of his hands when he brings it ahead to meet the ball. They never look unaesthetic. His drives flow like Ganga flows in Banaras.
The success of this paradoxical partnership is the bedrock of its romance.
Against South Africa, they took India from 32/4 to 203/5 while chasing 246. Against Nepal, they had a partnership of 215 run and both scored a century. While Saharan is the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 389 runs, Dhas is the third on that list with 294 runs in six innings.
In case India’s top order is blown away by the swinging menace of Vidler or the bounce and movement of Straker and Beardman, India knows that the Song of Ice and Fire still remains to be sung.
Can Australia deal with Soumy Pandey?
Soumy Pandey has been accurate. He has been deceptive. And most importantly, he has turned the ball quite a lot.
17 wickets in six games with almost three scalps a game is a crazy record for a left-arm spinner in South Africa. He has managed to extract bounce off the pitch as well and has used it well to earn him a ridiculous average of 8.47 in the World Cup.
The Australian middle order, comprising of skipper Hugh Weibgen, Harjas Singh, Ryan Hicks and Tom Campbell, was found out against the quality left-arm spin of Arafat Minhas from Pakistan, who took two wickets in the semifinal against them (10-20-2).
Pandey doesn’t only gets more turn, but he is quicker in the air as well and quite as accurate. Even Musheer Khan has been quite efficient with his left-arm spin for India and, along with Pandey, can test the Kangaroos in the final.
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When Saharan was asked about “taking revenge for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 for India”, he simply said he’s not thinking about it. Aussie skipper Hugh Weibgen, who’s also their second-highest run scorer in the tournament after the southpaw opener Harry Dixon, said he doesn’t mind being underdogs in the final.
Why would he? A certain Pat Cummins was the underdog, and look where he is now - back home with a World Cup Trophy lighting up his living room!
