India's Asia Cup win confidence-booster for U-19 WC: Laxman

VVS LAXMAN, the chief of India’s National Cricket Academy (NCA), feels the India under-19 team’s Asia Cup title win deserved more praise since it materialised despite the players’ preparations being hit by unfavourable weather conditions in the run-up to the tournament.

India bagged a record eighth title in the continental age-group meet on Friday (31) when they hammered Sri Lanka by nine wickets in a rain-curtailed summit clash in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The islanders never looked comfortable in the game and could manage 106 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 38 overs. India were set a revised target of 102 via the DLS method and they overhauled it in just 21.3 overs with opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi scoring an unbeaten 56 off 67 balls.

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India have lifted the trophy seven times since 1989 while in 2012, they finished as joint winners with arch-rivals Pakistan after the final ended in a tie.

Laxman, a former India cricketer, called the result of the latest edition an “ideal confidence-booster” ahead of the ICC U-19 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in the West Indies from January 14 to February 5.

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“Congrats to the India U-19 side on the #AsiaCupU19 triumph! Their preparations were hit by the weather, among other things, but it’s heartening to see them improve by the game. That’s as satisfying as the title win itself. Ideal confidence-booster for the World Cup,” he tweeted.

Indian cricket board president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah congratulated the junior team on its achievement.

Ganguly said in a tweet after India's U-19 team's success that the NCA deserved a lot of credit. "Congratulations to the under 19 team for winning the Asia Cup ..No cricket for 15 months since2020 for covid and to win is a commendable effort ..well dne to plyrs , coaches, new slctrs who hd vry ltle time to pick the best players ..NCA deserves a lot of credit @BCCI," Ganguly, who recently got discharged from hospital where he was admitted after testing Civid-19 positive, said.

"Congratulations to India U19 for their excellent performance in the #U19AsiaCup and for winning the championship for the 8th time! This tournament has been an ideal preparation ahead of the ICC U19 World Cup in West Indies next month," Shah tweeted.