India will play against New Zealand on Sunday in U19 World Cup final
Four-time winners and the defending champions India will square off with Asian rivals Bangladesh in the ICC U19 World Cup final on February 9 at the Potchefstroom. While India outplayed familiar rivals Pakistan by an emphatic 10 wickets - first time ever achieved by a team in U19 World Cup knockout game, Bangladesh rode on Mahmudul Hasan Joy's breathtaking century against New Zealand to reach their maiden World Cup final. And as the two sides gear up for the final, two youngsters, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and the Indian team will be eyeing massive records in the summit clash.
Yashasvi has been a stupendous form in the ongoing U19 World Cup, scoring 312 runs in five innings with a century and two fifties. His unbeaten 105 against Pakistan earlier this week displayed both class and astute composure in soaking in the early pressure from the bowling attack. And with one final game to go, the youngster will be raring to emulate his score in the summit clash on Sunday, where he stands the opportunity of breaking several records.
With his present run tally, Yashavi stands sixth in the list of most runs by Indian batters in a single World Cup edition. But 61 runs more and he will become the second-highest run-getter in that same list, surpassing Ravneet Ricky (340 runs in 1999), Cheteshwar Pujara (349 runs in 2006), Sarfaraz Khan (355 runs in 2016) and Shubman Gill (372 runs in 2018), and will be only be standing behind Shikhar Dhawan's 505 runs in 2004.
Yashasvi also has four fifty-plus scores in this edition of the World Cup which leaves him tied with 13 other names in the second spot. One more fifty and he will equal the record of five set by India's Sarfaraz in 2016 and Australia's Brett Williams in 1988. He also stands 18 runs short of surpassing Tanmay Srivastava (1316) to become the second-highest Indian run-getter in U19 ODI history. However, if Yashavi manages to emulate his semifinal score, he might have a shot at taking the top spot in the list, dethroning Vijay Zol (1404).
Another crucial stat that has been among the highlights of India's roaring run to the final has been their opening partnership tally of 39 runs which includes scores of 66, 115*, 35 and 176*. It is presently the fourth-highest partnership for any wicket for India in U19 World Cups. If the pair of Yashasvi and Divyansh Saxena can weave another century stand in the final against Bangladesh on Sunday, they will stand a chance finish the edition with a world cup record. They presently stand behind the tally of 495 by Ricky and Manish Sharma (2000), 467 by Dhawan and Robin Uthappa (2004) and 423 by Manjot Kalra and Prithvi Shaw (2018).
Meanwhile, leg-spinner Bishnoi stands a chance at creating an Indian record in U19 World Cup 2020. With 13 wickets in the ongoing edition, Bishnoi stands three wickets away from going past Shalabh Srivastava (2000), Abhishek Sharma (2002), Kuldeep Yadav (2014) and Anukul Roy (2018) to become the highest wicket-taking bowler from his country in a single U19 World Cup.
For India, who will appear in the record-extending seventh U19 World Cup final on Sunday, they have a record of four wins (2000, 2008, 2012, 2018) and two defeats (2006 and 2016). A win on Sunday will not just help them become the only team to successfully defend their world title, it will also extend their winning streak to 12 matches in U19 World Cup, surpassing their own previous record of 10.
