The inaugural edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) organized, Women’s Under-19 World Cup to be played in South Africa is now only a sleep away and while we reflect on the importance of conduct of one such tournament, we brief you on how the India men’s team have gone about in the Men’s Under-19 World Cup.
The re-establishment of women’s cricket has seen the senior teams’ cricket flourish but on the 14th of January, when the first ball of the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup will be delivered, it’ll mark a start of a new era in women’s cricket, the real re-establishment will then start. Grassroots across any sports decide its future and we’ve seen the same with men’s cricket not being a big bucks industry to women’s cricket climbing the ladder to get there and the Under-19 World Cup is a right fit for talent to meet opportunity as the gap to the top levels now narrows down.
Smriti Mandhana has a message for U19 India Team#U19T20WorldCup #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/S8UnIhvQ79
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 12, 2023
2000 U19 World Cup, India’s win against Sri Lanka
India placed in Group 2 registered wins across all 3 of their games and advanced to the semi-final where they handed Australia a defeat and advanced to the Finals. Sri Lanka batting first had Jehan Mubarak top score for the side with 108-ball 58. India in reply had started from the skipper, Mohammed Kaif and Ravneet Ricky and identical scores of 27 off the blades of both Yuvraj Singh and Manish Sharma. The unbeaten pair of, Reetinder Sodhi (39) and Niraj Patel (34) guided India to win with nearly 9 overs and 6 wickets to spare.
2008 U19 World Cup, India’s win against South Africa
India this time around again was placed in group 2 and repeated their trends from 2000 in topping the points table with a hat-trick of wins to advance to the semi-final where they handed New Zealand a defeat in a closely contested semi-final. India batting first had Tanmay Srivastava (46) top score for the side and starts from the skipper, Virat Kohli, Saurabh Tiwary, and Manish Pandey kept India in the contest but a lower middle order collapse saw India bowled out for 159. Rain intervention saw South Africa given a revised total of 115 to get to in 25 overs but the side in reply had only a couple of players in Reeza Hendricks (35) and skipper, Wayne Parnell (29) step up and with the tail exposed in the late end, South Africa fell 12 short of the required.
2012 U19 World Cup, India’s win against Australia
India placed in group C this time around lost a game of their 3 in league stage games and with 4 points advanced to the semi-final where they handed New Zealand an upset with a 9-run win. In the final, India met Australia, and despite Australia having lost their top order early, skipper, William Bosisto (87) led the fight back and was joined by Travis Head (37) and Ashton Turner (43) and helped Australia post 225/8. India in reply had skipper, Unmukt Chand (111*) lead from the front and alongside Smit Patel (62) with nearly 2.2 overs and 6 wickets handed India their 3rd U-19 World Cup win.
2018 U19 World Cup, India’s win against Australia
India placed in group B got back to their 6 points winning way following their 3 wins in the league stage games and advanced to the semi-final where they handed Pakistan a stunning 203-run defeat. In the Final, India again met Australia, and the latter with middle-order runs from Jonathan Merlo (76) and Param Uppal (34) got to a respectful place before being bowled out for 216. India in reply had skipper, Prithvi Shaw, and his deputy, Shubman Gill started, and the pair of Manjot Kalra (101*) and Harvik Desai (47*) sealed the win for the side in 38.5 overs with 8 wickets in hand.
2022 U19 World Cup, India’s win against England
India placed in group B yet again topped their league stage points table with a hat-trick of wins and advanced to the semi-final where they handed Australia a big upset in their 96-run win. In the final, England met India, and James Rew (95) single-handedly pushed England to a competitive score of 189 with Raj Bawa (5) and Ravi Kumar (4) sharing 9 wickets amongst them. India in reply had the fifties from Shaik Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu*, and Dinesh Bana’s final 5-ball 13* punch helped India win with a couple of overs and 4 wickets in hand.
From Mohammed Kaif in 2000 to Yash Dhull in 2022, these names are remembered for ages and are scripted into history books, and here’s a chance for the young girls playing the sport to enjoy the same limelight and recognition they deserve.
India historically has had a brilliant run in the Under-19 World Cups and now that the Women’s Under-19 World Cup is due to shortly get underway, Female Cricket, on behalf of all Indians from across the globe, would like to extend its best wishes for a successful campaign to the junior girls in blue.