Bangladesh defended their U19 Asia Cup title after getting the better of India in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, December 8. The Bangladesh pacers wreaked havoc in the Indian batting line-up as they successfully defended the 198-run score in the final and registered a 59-run win.
India came into the final after defeating Sri Lanka in their semifinal clash after chasing down 174 with six wickets in hand. However, the batting line-up suffered a collapse in the finale.
Chasing 199 to win the title for the ninth time, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They lost their tournament's highest run-scorer and opener Ayush Mhatre in the second over before losing the other opener, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, in the fifth over with the team being on 24. Andre Siddarth C and KP Karthikeya tried to bring the team back on track, but the former departed for 20 after being cleaned up by pacer Rizan Hossain.
Captain Mohamed Amaan, who had hit a century against Japan in the group stage, dropped anchor and held one end up to keep the hopes alive. He came in at No.5 when the Indian team was at 44/3 after 11.4 overs. He partnered with Karthikeya for a 29-run stand, which brought back the hopes but Iqbal Hossain Emon took apart Kartikeya and Nikhil Kumar in the same over to dent India's chances.
Amaan found another partner in No.9 Hardik Raj as they notched up a stand of 23, but Amaan was done by Bangladesh captain Azizul Hakim Tamim with a beautiful drifter that broke his stumps. Amaan departed when India were at 115 and after that, the further proceedings were a mere formality. There were a couple of boundaries from Chetan Sharma and Yudhajit Guha but the day was not to be India's as they were bowled out for 139.
With this, Bangladesh have become the second team after India to defend the U19 Asia Cup title. India have won have the continental crown a record eight times, while this was Bangladesh's second win after their victory in 2023.
