ICC U-19 World Cup Final: Everything working for them, red-hot India take on England

Gunning for their fifth title after crushing Australia by 96 runs in the semifinal, a buoyant India — even more fired up after a pep talk by Virat Kohli — face England, who, after beating Afghanistan by 15 runs in the first semifinal are aiming for their first crown in 24 years, in the final of the 2022 Under-19 World Cup at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday. While the head coach is former India all-rounder Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Under-19 team is also being guided by batting legend VVS Laxman, who is there in the West Indies as the head of the National Cricket Academy.

Read AlsoICC Under-19 World Cup: Captain Yash Dhull learned to grab opportunities and embrace challenges at an early age

Quite a few eyebrows were raised when India’s under-19 captain Yash Dhull opted to bat first against Australia at Coolidge in the U-19 World Cup semifinal on Wednesday. The surface at the venue had earned a reputation of being capricious in the two preceding matches. The bigger challenge, though,

A win in the summit clash would help the India under-19s erase the memories of the last youth World Cup in South Africa in January 2020, when India lost an ill-tempered final to Bangladesh in South Africa. Unlike England, India have been a dominant force in in this tournament, having reached their eighth final — fourth in a row. No other team has reached as many finals or won more U-19 World Cups. Putting on a complete show with both bat and ball in the second semifinal of the tournament at Coolidge in Antigua, India overcame a couple of early jolts through a massive 204-run stand for the third wicket between captain Yash Dhull, who scored a brilliant 110 and his deputy Shaik Rasheed (94) scored 290 for five — including