Shafali Verma & Co. are chasing history in the inaugural Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup as the Teens in Blue will be up against England women in the summit clash on Sunday (January 29). If Shafali-led India manage to beat England in the final, it will be a big achievement for the Indian women's cricket team as it will their first ever ICC trophy.
As, on the eve of all-important summit clash, both the Indian skipper Shafali Verma and English captain Grace Scrivens posed with the trophy of the U-19 T20 World Cup, the cricket fans noticed an interesting trend. The fans suggested that Shafali, who was standing right to the trophy (and on left side of the picture) was at the perfect spot if the trends of various ICC events in the last few years are taken into account.
According to the trend, the captain standing on the right of the trophy goes on to win it, even though not always, but rather frequently to be ignored. Whether it was Eoin Morgan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 or Kane Williamson in the inaugural World Test Championship final in 2021 or Australia's Aaron Finch in the T20 World Cup 2021 and Meg Lanning in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020, they all were standing on the right side of the trophy and finished on the right side of the result too. Will that be the case on Sunday as well? Whole of India, at least, hopes for it.
Barring losing a match against Australia, India's journey in the U-19 Women's World Cup 2023 has been exceptional.
India reached the final after a comprehensive win over New Zealand in the semifinals. It was a complete performance — with both ball and bat — as the team first dismissed the White ferns for 107 runs, and then scored the same within 14.2 overs to secure an eight-wicket victory.
The English teenagers also played out a similar performance, but their match was a lot more dramatic than the first semifinal between India and New Zealand.
In what was a low-scoring encounter, England comprehensively defended 99 runs to earn a final place against India. After losing early wickets, Australia looked in control at 56/4 before losing their last six wickets for just 30 runs. Hannah Baker starred for England with 3/10 in her four overs to be adjudged the player of the match.
