ICC U19 World Cup 2020 – Statistical Preview

The ICC Under-19s World Cup 2020 will open on Friday when the home team South Africa Under-19s will be in action against the Afghanistan Under-19s side. The defending champions India Under-19s will start their campaign on Sunday when they face the Sri Lankan team. India will be aiming for the 5th World title having won all the tournaments they played in the past year. Bangladesh Under-19s are among the top contenders to win the title as have players from the previous U19 CWC hosted by New Zealand.

All the key stats and numbers ahead of the ICC Under-19s World Cup 2020 in South Africa:

0 – India Under-19s won all the matches they played against Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand in the U19 World Cups since the start of 2000. India defeated Australia U19s in each of their last four U19 CWC matches including twice in the 2018 edition.

They defeated Sri Lanka in all seven U19 CWC matches since the start of 2000 and won all the six U19 CWC meetings against New Zealand including five since 2000. Both New Zealand and Sri Lanka are part of the Group A in this tournament alongside India.

1 – Japan Under-19s made it to Under-19s World Cup for the first time. They are the 30th side to feature in the history of the tournament. Japan entered the tournament ahead of Papua New Guinea who lost 44 of the 47 matches they played in the U19 CWC history including each of their last 13 games.

On the other hand, United Arab Emirates qualified for the U19 CWC only for the 2nd time. They got direct qualification for the 2014 U19 CWC which they hosted.

3 – South Africa Under-19s won as few as three of their last 19 matches at home in Youth ODI cricket. They lost nine consecutive matches in this format during this period. Pakistan U19s, who whitewashed South Africa during a 7-match Youth ODI series last year, will start the tournament having won each of their last nine Youth ODIs in South Africa.

7-0 – Australia Under-19s hold the record for playing most number of matches with 100 win % against an opponent in the Under-19s World Cup. They won all the seven matches played against the West Indies in the U19 CWC. Both Australia and West Indies teams are part of Group B in this tournament.

9.51 – India’s Atharva Ankolekar has a bowling average of 9.51 in Youth ODI cricket; the 2nd best average for any player in this format behind Mujeeb-ur-Rahman’s 9.22. The left-arm spinner picked up 27 wickets in 10 Youth ODIs with a 5-wicket haul and two 4-fers.

Ankolekar has a bowling strike of 18.7 in Youth ODIs which is also the 2nd best for any player hind Anukul Roy’s 18.4 in this format. Indian pacer Sushant Mishra has a strike rate of 21.2 which is the 9th best in Youth ODIs and 2nd best among active players. Mishra claimed 29 wickets from only 13 Youth ODIs he played thus far.

16/17 – India Under-19s won 16 of their last 17 matches on South African soil in the Youth ODI cricket which includes a 12-match winning streak. The 5-wicket defeat in the recent Youth ODI series against South Africa U19s is the only defeat for India U19s on South African soil post the 1998 U19 CWC. Overall, India U19s won 18 out of 21 Youth ODIs they played in South Africa.

21-3 – India Under-19s have a win-loss record of 21-3 in the Under-19s World Cup since the start of 2012. No other team won more than 18 matches in U19 CWC across the previous four editions. India lost two matches against West Indies U19s in this period and once against the England team.

If India wins all the three matches during the group stage, they will equal Australia’s longest winning streak of nine matches in U19 CWC. India has three streaks of 8 consecutive wins in the history of U19 World Cup till date.

196 – India Under-19s need four more wins to become the first team to win 200 matches in the Youth ODI cricket. The Indian team featured in 257 Youth ODIs out of which they won 196 matches and lost only 56. Pakistan Under-19s are one win away from becoming the 2nd team to 150 Youth ODI wins. They won 149 matches out of the 241 Youth ODIs thus far.

986 – Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored 986 runs across 21 Youth ODI matches he played with help of two centuries and seven fifties. Jaiswal will be 3rd quickest to 1000 Youth ODI runs behind Shubman Gill (13 innings) and Unmukt Chand (17 innings) if he scores 14 runs in his next inning.

South Africa’s Jonathan Bird (756 runs in 15 innings), India’s Divyansh Saxena (597 in 13 innings) and Pakistan’s Haider Ali (548 in 14 innings) will have a chance to reach the milestone quicker than Jaiswal during this tournament.

1116 – The Pakistan skipper Rohail Nazir has scored 1116 runs in Youth ODIs across 29 matches; the 2nd most runs in this format while playing as a keeper. Rohail needs only nine runs to go past Quinton de Kock’s tally of 1124 runs to become most prolific keeper-batsman in Youth ODI history.

1510 – Bangladesh’s Towhid Hridoy is the 3rd highest run-getter in Youth ODI cricket with 1510 runs. He is only behind Najmul Hossain Shanto (1820) and Sami Aslam (1695) in the all-time list. Towhid struck five hundreds in this format including three in his previous three innings which made him the first player with hat-trick hundreds in Youth ODIs. Sami Aslam (6) and Unmukt Chand (5) are the other two players with 5+ tons in Youth ODIs.