Looking to continue with their confident start to the tournament, India will begin as firm favourites against a tricky Bangladesh in their second match of the ICC U19 World Cup here on Saturday.
Five-time champions India started their campaign on expected lines, registering a six-wicket win over USA after bundling the opponents out for just 107 in a rain-hit match with right-arm pacer Henil Patel taking five wickets for 16 runs in seven overs and the other bowlers also doing a fine job.
The star-studded Indian batting line-up will hope to get an extended run at the crease against Bangladesh, who are likely to pose a greater challenge to the Ayush Mhatre-led side after a rather comfortable win against the USA.
Mhatre and the incredible 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi will again lead the batting in the company of vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra, all-rounders Aaron George and Vedant Trivedi and wicketkeeper Abhigyan Kundu.
D. Deepesh, RS Ambrish, Henil Patel, Kishan Kumar Singh and Udhav Mohan offer the team pace bowling options, while the likes of Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel and Mohamed Enaan shoulder the spin bowling responsibility.
Champions in five of the 16 editions, India are by far the most dominant team in the history of the competition, which started back in 1988 with Australia emerging winners in the inaugural event. Raising their prospects further is the team's form in the last one year, having won series in England, Australia and South Africa. The victory against USA was India's 14th in the last 17 matches, and the side is backing itself to continue the excellent run of form against their next opponents.
Bangladesh have captain Azizul Hakim, who has a fair bit of experience and a lot will depend on how he marshals his side in the tournament in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
With his deputy Zawad Abrar, Hakim will spearhead the Bangladesh batting. The duo have been prolific at the under-19 level, having scored over 1,000 runs in Youth ODIs since the last edition of the tournament in 2024. Kalam Siddiki, with 857 runs in this period, is another prolific run-getter in the side.
Bangladesh also carry a potent bowling attack with pacers Iqbal Hossain and Al Fahad expected to get plenty of support in pace-friendly conditions in Zimbabwe. These two are the most successful bowlers since the last U19 World Cup with 45 and 43 wickets, respectively. Not too far behind is left-arm spinner Samiun Basir, who took 29 wickets in this period at an economy of under four.
Also read: India rout USA to win U-19 World Cup opener
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