India vs Bangladesh Live Score U-19 Asia Cup Final
India vs Bangladesh Live Score U-19 Asia Cup Final: India are on the hunt for a record-extending ninth U-19 Asia Cup title, and are now one step away from achieving that feat as they prepare to face off against Bangladesh in the final of the tournament at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Despite suffering an opening day loss to Pakistan in a rivalry matchup, India have looked relatively comfortable in their three matches since, including a routine seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the semifinal to land them in the title game.…Read More
Meanwhile, Bangladesh are looking to go back-to-back, having won the trophy in 2023 in their inaugural U-19 Asia Cup triumph, and trying to add gloss to the proceedings by letting the young Tigers cause a massive upset against the pre-tournament favourites. Group stage wins over Afghanistan and Nepal and a big result in the semifinal against Pakistan means Bangladesh find themselves in a position to do exactly that.
Bangladesh have been led by their bowling in this tournament, with the pair of Mohammed Al Fahad and Iqbal Hossain Emon being the stars in particular. The duo have both contributed a very impressive 10 wickets each in just 4 matches, being the biggest reason why the team has performed so well and reached such a deep stage in the competition for a second year running.
Medium-fast pacer Emon was the star against Pakistan, as his 4-fer helped the Tigers dominate the Pakistan batting and bowl the much-favoured team for just 116 runs. It was a walk in the park from there, as an unbeaten 61* from skipper Azizul Hakim, batting at number three, ensured there were no hiccups for the chasing team on that occasion.
Hakim also leads the team in batting, with 224 runs in these four matches including a century and two half-centuries. Impressive performances here and in the final will mean that the senior Bangladesh team will keep an eye on the batter for a role heading into 2025, making this a crucial occasion for the U-19 skipper.
On the Indian team, this tournament has been an opportunity for fans to tune in to the much-hyped Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 13-year-old who earned an INR 1.1 crore IPL deal from Rajasthan Royals and is already making waves despite playing against players as much as six years older than him. After a quiet start against Pakistan, Suryavanshi has shown his talent for hitting the long ball and attacking in the powerplay, coming to a head with two half-centuries in the last two matches at a rate of knots. 67 off 36 in the successful chase against Sri Lanka has made fans aware that the talent might be real.
Suryavanshi has also found a very capable and talented partner to open the batting, with Ayush Mhatre’s stocks continuing to rise after the batter’s debut in First Class cricket for Mumbai earlier this year. Mhatre has also had an impressive tournament so far, consistently amongst the runs with 175 in 4 innings, at a very healthy strike-rate of 143.44 as he has shown that he can be just as attacking a hitter in the powerplay as the younger Raghuvanshi. India’s success will depend greatly on how good a start the opening duo can provide, with the middle order being fairly untested in situations of importance.
The bowling has been spearheaded by Rajasthan pacer Chetan Sharma, who has 7 wickets in this tournament in three matches, including a three-fer and being the leading wicket taker in the semifinal. India’s bowling has found contributions from a range of players, with Yudhajit Guha having taken 6 wickets, and Mhatre contributing with ball as well with 5 scalps to his name. India’s bowling lineup has been chipping in across the board, meaning they are capable of snipping any budding Bangladesh partnership before it develops too much. This will remain the gameplan with ball in hand.
It hasn’t proven to be a high-scoring tournament in the UAE, with low scores and comfortable chases having been the situation so far. The team that wins the toss will likely continue to prefer chasing, taking advantage of due and knowing that a strong bowling performance will set up a routine task for the batters in the second half of the match. India will go in as favourites to make it nine U-19 Asia Cup trophies, but Bangladesh love playing spoilsport and will always be in the hunt.
