England will represent the X-factor in India’s plans of defending their ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup crown as the two teams clash in the quarter-finals at the Dubai International Stadium.
That’s because in winning the last four tournaments that they have played, and in their victorious stretch of more than a year, the one team this current India U19 squad has never faced is England.
In the absence of first-hand experience, all they have as fall-back option is video footage of some key England players. And, of course, the immense self-belief that they have garnered in their own ability.
Coach Bharat Arun, after an intense nets session at the ICC Academy yesterday, said: “England are a bit of an unknown for us. We have played almost every other team in the last one year, except for them.
“But we are taking this as any other match that we play. Instead of trying to work out their weaknesses and concentrating on them, we are going to play to our strength.”
India’s strength, even though Arun emphasises on the whole unit doing well so far in the tournament, is spin. And that could be the ace up their sleeve against an England side that has traditionally struggled a lot more against the turning ball compared to a seaming one.
Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav (8) and off-spinners Deepak Hooda (7) and Aamir Gani (6) have taken 21 out of the 28 wickets that have gone to the bowlers.
The Indian batting has mostly revolved around Indian Premier League (IPL) star Sanju Samson (160 runs in three matches) and Sarfaraz Khan (153 runs with two not outs so far).
Captain Vijay Zol, who hasn’t had a very good outing as a batsman so far – the 35 in 68 balls against minnows Papua New Guinea his best in three matches – also played down the importance of winning the toss in Dubai.
“We played two matches there, and on two different pitches, but the pitch did not change drasticallyduring the course of play,” said Zol, who scored a century against Pakistan in India’s U-19 Asia Cup final win in Sharjah last month.
“We believe that we have bowlers who can bowl out any opposition whether they are bowling first or second, and we have depth in batting to set up target, or chase it.
“We may not have played against them lately, but we have set our own standards in all three departments of the game, and if we can keep to it, we know we will compete well against any team.
“As for my own batting, I know I haven’t scored much, but I am not worried about it. I am hitting the ball well at the nets and it is just a matter of time before I get a decent score.”
England have played very well in the group matches, but that included a heart-breaking one-wicket loss to Sri Lanka after they looked very much in control of the match.
Theirs has been a complete team performance so far. Even though none of the Young Lions have managed to make a century in the three matches, all their top-order batsmen have got at least one big innings, with Jonathan Tattersall’s 95 against Sri Lanka being the highest.
And none of their bowlers has taken more than five wickets, but three of them have five against their names and two have managed to take four wickets.
Captain Will Rhodes was exuding confidence ahead of their match against India, saying: “There is a good vibe among the team…the boys are in a good space and excited about our next new challenge.
“To be competitive against India, we will need to nail our basics, carry them out successfully more often than they do, play with intent and enjoy the occasion.
Ben Duckett, who scored 83 in the only match he played against the UAE, was expected to make it to the playing XI today. And he said: “Everyone is excited about what will be the biggest match of our careers so far.
“The team morale is very strong. We understand that we will be the underdogs playing against India, who have two players playing in the IPL and are holders. However, if we play to our strengths we feel that we will come out on top.
“Even though we have qualified for the quarter-finals, we still feel that we have not played our best cricket yet.”
