The Indian under-19 side led by skipper Niki Prasad was recently crowned as the inaugural champions of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Women’s Under-19 Asia Cup, hosted by Malaysia.
India defeated Bangladesh led by skipper Sumaiya Akter by 41 runs in the final as India remained unbeaten throughout, the only team to have achieved this feat. Skipper Niki Prasad’s success as a leader, guiding India B to an Under-19 Tri-series victory involving India A and South Africa, earned her the responsibility to lead India’s Under-19 side in the inaugural edition of the ACC Women’s Under-19 Asia Cup.
India’s opening batter Gongadi Trisha was the leading run-scorer of the inaugural edition of the ACC Women’s Under-19 Asia Cup 2024 with 159 runs at an impressive strike rate of 120.45 and a sensational average of 53 in five innings for her side. Aayushi Shukla was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 10 wickets at an exceptional average of 5.40 and an impressive economy of 3.27 in five innings with the ball for her side.
In their next assignment, India will be participating in the upcoming 2nd edition of the ICC Women’s Under-19 World Cup 2025. The tournament will be hosted by Malaysia and will be played from 18th January 2025 (Saturday) to 2nd February 2025 (Sunday).
A total of 16 teams will be divided into four groups namely Group A, B, C, and D. The participating teams are as follows, India, Australia, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Nepal, Nigeria, Samoa, Scotland, the United States of America (USA), and hosts Malaysia.
“There will be players from other states, and it won’t be like any other state team. I will make sure that they know their roles and they communicate well. In addition, they have been playing together for the past six months. It has come to a point where everyone knows what each other’s strengths are. Obviously, the credit goes to the BCCI, they made sure we get this opportunity of playing together,” said skipper Niki Prasad, on her mantra for leading the Indian team in the ICC Women’s Under-19 World Cup, while also crediting the BCCI for giving the opportunity to spend a decent amount of game time with the group.
India will kickstart their campaign in the 2nd edition of the ICC Women’s Under-19 World Cup 2025 on 19th January 2025 (Sunday) against the West Indies in the 8th match of the tournament at Bayuemas Oval, Kuala Lumpur from 12 PM IST.
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