Almost everyone would have picked India to make the final of the U-19 World Cup but Bangladesh would not have got as much support simply because they are not one of cricket’s powerhouse countries yet.
Such has been India’s dominance in recent years, that one has to go back as far as 2014 for the last time they weren’t in the final.
U19 final preview: A battle of the undefeated teams
The only game they have lost in the past six years was the 2016 final and their ongoing 11-game winning run showing exactly why they have become the high-flyers in the U19 Cricket World Cup.
Much of India’s success in this tournament has been built on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s genius. With four scores of 50 or more in five games, the left-hander’s 312 runs see him top of the charts ahead of the final – needing 38 more to score the second-most runs by an Indian in a single U19 Cricket World Cup, behind Shikhar Dhawan. But as the table below shows, his great run has deprived others in the team of batting opportunities.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, doesn’t have one batsman dominating the batting charts in quite the same way. They have a much better spread and almost all their main batsmen have got a run but no one has dominated like Jaiswal.
India's top 5 batsmen
| Player | Mat | Runs | HS | Ave | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YBK Jaiswal | 5 | 312 | 105* | 156.00 | 85.71 |
| DA Saxena | 4 | 148 | 59* | 74.00 | 69.15 |
| SA Veer | 5 | 69 | 44* | 69.00 | 100.00 |
| DC Jurel | 5 | 67 | 52* | 67.00 | 69.79 |
| PK Garg | 5 | 61 | 56 | 30.50 | 77.21 |
Bangladesh's top 5 batsmen
| Player | Mat | Runs | HS | Ave | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahmudul Hasan Joy | 5 | 176 | 100 | 58.66 | 80.73 |
| Towhid Hridoy | 5 | 114 | 51 | 38.00 | 71.25 |
| Tanzid Hasan | 5 | 149 | 80 | 29.80 | 107.19 |
| Parvez Hossain Emon | 5 | 119 | 58* | 29.75 | 92.24 |
| Shahadat Hossain | 5 | 130 | 74* | - | 77.38 |
India have impressed with the ball as well, with Ravi Bishnoi needing four more scalps to finish atop the wicket-taking charts for the tournament. Kartik Tyagi has given them some solid firepower at the start of the innings and everyone else has chipped in with wickets too. The bowling, it might be said, has a better spread than the batting.
Bangladesh have a good spread too. Rakibul Hasan leads the charge with 11 wickets but others have chipped in too.
India's top 5 bowlers
| Player | Mat | Overs | Wkts | Ave | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kartik Tyagi | 5 | 34.2 | 11 | 10.90 | 3.49 | 18.7 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | 5 | 42.0 | 13 | 11.61 | 3.59 | 19.3 |
| Akash Singh | 5 | 32.2 | 7 | 17.28 | 3.74 | 27.7 |
| AV Ankolekar | 3 | 19.0 | 4 | 19.75 | 4.15 | 28.5 |
| SS Mishra | 4 | 24.1 | 5 | 22.80 | 4.71 | 29.0 |
Bangladesh's top 5 bowlers
| Player | Mat | Overs | Wkts | Ave | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rakibul Hasan | 5 | 30.0 | 11 | 8.45 | 3.10 | 16.3 |
| Shamim Hossain | 5 | 28.0 | 5 | 21.00 | 3.75 | 33.6 |
| Shoriful Islam | 5 | 29.0 | 7 | 15.85 | 3.82 | 24.8 |
| Mrittunjoy Chowdhury | 2 | 9.1 | 2 | 18.00 | 3.92 | 27.5 |
| Tanzim Hasan Sakib | 5 | 31.0 | 5 | 30.40 | 4.90 | 37.2 |