It’s India and Pakistan again. This time the arch-rivals will slug it out in the ninth edition of the Under-19 Asian Cup on Saturday (December 25).
Yash Dhull's India have a good balance to their side and are expected to come out on top.
Pakistan led by Qasim Akram, on the other hand, will be hoping for a better performance from their batters in a high-octane encounter.
With both India and Pakistan having won their respective opening games, the arch-rivals will come out all guns blazing at the ICC Academy Ground No 2 in Dubai.
India U-19 side comprehensively romped the United Arab Emirates U19 in their opening game of the competition. After being asked to bat first, India U19 posted 282 on the board, losing five wickets.
Opener Harnoor Singh led the charge with the bat as he belted a brilliant century. The bowlers then stepped up and backed up their batters to knock over the hosts on 128, claiming the game by 154 runs. India will be hoping to carry forward the winning momentum.
The Pakistan U-19 side, meanwhile, got the better of Afghanistan U19 in their opening game of the competition. It was a dominant victory by them as the Afghan side didn’t stand any chance in the game.
After electing to bat first, the Afghan batters struggled to adapt to the conditions as Pakistan bowlers bowled brilliantly to knock them out on 52. The Pakistan batters did struggle a bit in the chase and lost six wickets but eventually got across the line in 17th over.
Probable playing XI of both sides:
India: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harnoor Singh, Shaikh Rasheed, Yash Dhull (captain), Nishant Sindhu, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Kaushal Tambe, Ravi Kumar, Garv Sangwan, Aaradhya Yadav (wk) and Vicky Ostwal.
Pakistan: Abdul Wahid, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Shehzad, Haseebullah (wk), Qasim Akram (captain), Irfan Khan, Rizwan Mehmood, Ahmad Khan, Ali Asfand, Zeeshan Zameer and Awais Ali.
Squad of both sides:
India: Harnoor Singh Pannu, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ansh Gosai, S K Rasheed, Yash Dhull (captain), Anneshwar Gautam, Siddharth Yadav, Kaushal Tambe, Nishant Sindhu, Dinnesh Bana (wk), Aaradhya Yadav (wk), Rajangad Bawa, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Garv Sangwan, Ravi Kumar, Rishith Reddy, Manav Parakh, Amrit Raj Upadhyay and Vicky Ostwal.
Pakistan: Qasim Akram (captain), Abdul Faseeh, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ahmed Khan, Ali Asfand, Arham Nawab, Awais Ali, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah, Irfan Khan Niazi, Maaz Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Shehzad, Rizwan Mehmood and Zeeshan Zameer.
