Bulawayo [Zimbabwe], January 31 : The Indian Under-19 World Cup team will take on the Pakistan Under-19 side in a crucial clash in the Super Six of the ongoing ICC Under-19 World Cup at Bulawayo on Sunday.
The winner of this clash will earn a place in the semifinal. With India at the second spot with three wins in three matches in their Super Six Group two, they are just one win away from joining England, Australia and Afghanistan in the final four.
However, if they lose, they will be at the mercy of the net run rate, with both Pakistan (currently at four points with two wins and a loss in three matches) and India at six points. Also, the young Indian stars will be aiming to avenge their loss in last year's U19 Asia Cup title clash, where they were crushed by Pakistan by 191 runs in Dubai.
According to ESPNCricinfo, the last time India failed to reach the Under-19 World Cup semifinals was in 2014, the year South Africa rose under the captaincy of future star Aiden Markram. Since then, India has appeared in all U19 World Cup finals and won in 2018 and 2022. The last time Pakistan failed to reach the tournament semifinals was two editions ago, in 2022.
India will have to stay wary of batter Sameer Minhas, who had tormented them with a blistering 172 in the final of the U19 Asia Cup and has continued his fine form in this tournament. So far for Pakistan, he is the top run-getter with 188 runs in four matches at an average of 94.00 and a strike rate of over 106, with two fifties and a best score of 94*.
In bowling, India will have to stay at the top against the pace duo of Ali Raza (the second-highest wicket-taker with 12 at an average of 10.41, with a four-fer) and fifth-highest wicket-taker Abdul Subhan (10 scalps at an average of 8.50 with a four-fer).
Team India would be very pleased with how they have performed as a collective. While the top 10 batters list does not feature any Indian batter, performances from Abhigyan Kundu (183 runs in four matches and three innings at an average of 91.50, with two fifties), Vaibhav Suryavanshi (166 runs in four innings at a strike rate of over 133 with two fifties), and Vihaan Malhotra (century against New Zealand) are encouraging for them. Only skipper Ayush Mhatre (99 runs in four innings with a fifty at a strike rate of over 128) has to come good with the bat.
Pacer Henil Patel (10 wickets in four matches at an average of 8.10, with a five-for) has been an impactful bowler for India alongside RS Ambrish, the all-rounder, with seven wickets at an average of 11.42, with a four-fer.
India enjoys the advantage of playing at Bulawayo, having played all their four matches here and having a collective batting average and run rate of 32.76 and 6.32, respectively. All other teams have an average of 22.33 and run rate of 4.61 at this venue in this tournament, as per ESPNCricinfo.
Squads:

India U19 Squad: Aaron George, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre(c), Vedant Trivedi, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhigyan Kundu(w), Kanishk Chouhan, RS Ambrish, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Udhav Mohan, Harvansh Pangalia, Mohamed Enaan, Deepesh Devendran, Kishan Kumar Singh

Pakistan U19 Squad: Hamza Zahoor(w), Sameer Minhas, Usman Khan, Farhan Yousaf(c), Ahmed Hussain, Huzaifa Ahsan, Mohammad Shayan, Abdul Subhan, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Sayyam, Ali Raza, Umar Zaib, Ali Hassan Baloch, Daniyal Ali Khan, Niqab Shafiq.