"We played a few...": Skipper Uday reveals crucial factor behind India's loss in U19 WC final
Feb 11, 2024
Benoni [South Africa], February 11 : Following India's 79-run loss against Australia in the U19 World Cup on Sunday, the 'Boys in Blues' skipper Uday Saharan revealed a crucial factor behind their defeat and said that they played a "few rash shots".
While speaking at the post-match presentation, Uday said that he was proud of his team's performance. He added that the 'Boys in Blues' displayed a "good fighting spirit" in the final match.
While concluding he said that they would keep "learning and getting better".
"I'm proud of the boys, they played really well. Showed good fighting spirit throughout the tournament. We played a few rash shots today, and didn't spend time in the middle. We were prepared but couldn't execute the plans. Lots of learnings from this tournament, learnt a lot from the support staff and even during the games. We will try to keep learning and getting better," Uday said.
The India U19 skipper ended the U19 World Cup being the top run-scorer of the tournament, scoring 397 runs.
Recapping the match, while chasing a target of 254, two maiden overs from Australia foreshadowed the chain of events that were about to unfold in the next 43.5 overs. Arshin Kulkarni and Musheer Khan were the two casualties in the first powerplay, which handed Australia early control in the final.
Callum Vidler was sensational in his spell, while Mahli Beardman soared high with his pace.
Beardman dismissed India's skipper Uday Saharan in single digits for the first time in the tournament, which indicated that the chase wasn't going to be a walk in the park for the Indian team.
Adarsh Singh (47) and Murugan Abhishek (42) waged a battle during their time on the crease; however, it wasn't enough to get India across the finishing line.
Earlier in the innings, after winning the toss, Hugh Weibgen's Australia skipper decided to bat first and set a target of 254 runs in the final match.
In the end, Australia replicated another World Cup final heartbreak for defending champions India following their 79-run victory to lift their fourth Under-19 World Cup title at Willowmoore Park.
