‘Bangladesh meant business from ball one’ – Ravi Ashwin congratulates Junior Tigers for U19 World Cup triumph

On Sunday, February 9, Bangladesh managed to engrave its name in history. Their U19 team won their first ever world event, beating India by three wickets in the final at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom. The Grand Finale of the U19 World Cup turned out to be an absolute humdinger. Ever since they won the toss and elected to field first, they stamped their authority.

Avishek Das struck first blood, removing Divyansh Saxena. But Yashasvi Jaiswal stood alike a rock, scoring 88 runs. He got the apt support from Tilak Varma, who turned up with score in the 30s. However, barring the duo, the Indian batting looked lacklustre and was shot out for 177 inside their 50 overs. The Bangladesh fielding was also outstanding, resulting in pressure on India.

During the run-chase, The Tigers openers- Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Parvez Hossain Emon- started with intent. The pair threatened to take the game away from india until Tamim threw his wicket away to leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Thereafter, the Indian leggie ran through the Tigers’ middle order, getting rid of Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Towhid Hridoy and Shahadat Hossain in quick succession.

Akbar Ali takes Bangladesh to victory

To add insult to injury, Emon had to walk off after developing a cramp. Avishek Das and Shamim Hossain  perished in the quest to up the ante. But skipper Akbar Ali was in no mood to give up the ghost. He played out a number of dot deliveries, keeping in mind that the required-rate wasn’t alarming. To his delight, Emon came back and scored 47 before becoming Jaiswal’s victim.

From there on, Akbar put his head down scored 43 runs and took Bangladesh to glory. When the Tigers needed 15 runs, rain intervened, but after the break Ali’s men romped past the finishing line. In the meantime, Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin was delighted with Bangladesh’s performance.

He praised the Tigers for stepping on the gas right from the outset and not allowing India to make a comeback. The veteran tweaker took to Twitter and wrote, “Well done Bangladesh on winning the under 19 World Cup, it looked like a team that meant business from the very first ball. #Under19WorldCup #Bangladesh,”

Here is Ashwin’s tweet

Well done Bangladesh on winning the under 19 World Cup, it looked like a team that meant business from the very first ball. #Under19WorldCup #Bangladesh

— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) February 9, 2020