ICC U-19 World Cup 2020 | Talking Points from India’s convincing run in the league stage

01/28/2020

India have been dominating the talks in U-19 age-groups a while now and ever since landing in South Africa, they have hardly taken a step wrong. However, the wins are not the real representation of their performance, with many chinks open to be exploited come the Super League QF.

The untested batting order will have a major test waiting

If there is anything called a perfect campaign, then this is it. The perpetual dominant Indian U-19 side are on a roll for some time now - even before the tournament started - and in a bid to qualify for the semi-finals, they will face Australia U-19 side, who have had quite a rocky tournament so far. While everything seemed hunky-dory for India, a closer look at it, however, paints a picture of an otherwise tricky scenario. Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena have been the showstoppers in the last two matches while the likes of Tilak Varma, Priyam Garg and Dhruv Jurel haven’t had that many game time after their first match of the tournament against Sri Lanka U19 in Kimberley. In the opening encounter, Garg and Jurel scored half-centuries while Siddhesh Veer, who was drafted in as a late replacement for Divyansh Joshi, scored a late-order cameo of 44 runs off 27 balls. In the matches against Japan and New Zealand, India didn’t even lose a single wicket - something that is a matter of solace if viewed from one angle but that is not the case really. The likes of Varma, Garg, Jurel, and Siddhesh Veer are capable enough but the lack of game-time meant they might find it difficult when they will take on George Balderson-led Aussie colts at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom.

Ravi Bishnoi too good to be playing U-19 cricket

A product of his own hard-work, Ravi Bishnoi rose through the age-group ranks in Rajasthan cricket to attract a handsome 2 Cr cheque in the Indian Premier League auction. As the pressure on him to perform mounted, as it would do anyway if you have a good IPL auction, Ravi Bishnoi stood apart in the ICC U-19 World Cup to prove that he is cut above the rest. A two-wicket haul to start the U-19 World Cup campaign, the leg-spinner further picked another eight wickets in the next two games to emerge as India’s biggest positives in the world event. What has been most impressive though is not the number of wickets he has taken so far rather the variations that he has brought to the fore. His googly to back up his primary leg-spinner is a thing of beauty, which left Japan and New Zealand completely bamboozled. The deliveries that got the better of Shu Noguchi and Ishaan Fartyal in the Japan encounter were not only the product of Japan’s clueless batting display but also the magnificent talent that Bishnoi is slowly becoming. He has a fast run-up, which makes it easier for him to bowl the flipper without giving any warning signs to the batsmen, and the Kiwi batsmen learnt it the hard way in the last league encounter. As India take on Australia, it will be another chance for Bishnoi to dominate talks and also take the bragging rights against Australia’s Indian recruit Tanveer Sangha.

Can Kartik Tyagi work on his lengths?

Capable of swinging the ball both ways and bowling close to 140 makes him an exciting prospect, with his skills also impressing former Uttar Pradesh captain Rizwan Shamshad big-time. As we have seen in the tournament so far, he has quite lived up to the expectations, picking five wickets in the three games. However, the stats have a caveat and quite a big one too. Tyagi, in two of the three matches, has been quite erratic with his line and length and conceded nine wides against Japan. That might seem reading too much because he, otherwise conceded only one run from the total of six overs, but that was down to Japan’s incapability and cluelessness about how to hold a bat. Australia won’t give any chances if the same mistakes are committed once again. Especially with the fact that Australia’s opening duo of Sam Fanning and Jake Fraser-McGurk seem very fluent with the bat and don’t care about picture-perfect stance to score runs, it might come back to haunt one half of India’s opening bowling duo that also has Jharkhand’s, Sushant Mishra.