ICC Under-19 World Cup: India's previous final appearances and heroes -- from Virat Kohli to Prithvi Shaw

ICC Under-19 WC: Indias previous finals — ICC Under-19 WC: India's previous finals

Bengaluru, February 8: India will face Bangladesh in the ICC Under-19 World Cup final in South Africa on Sunday (February 9) in search of their fifth title. India are the defending champions of the tournament and needless to say the hot favourite to retain the title.

Over the years, the U19 World Cups have given India some fine talents like Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Prithvi Shaw. MyKhel takes a look at India's previous final appearances in the tournament.

1. 2000 - India vs Sri Lanka

This was the U19 World Cup that sparked the youth revolution in Indian cricket. India beat Sri Lanka in the final by six wickets in Colombo to wrest the crown. Reetinder Singh Sodhi was man of the match in the final while Yuvraj Singh named man of the series. Sodhi, Yuvraj and Mohammad Kaif went on to play for India in the subsequent years.

2. 2006 - India vs Pakistan

The final was once again in Colombo and this time India faced Pakistan. Pakistan were bowled out for 109 but India were bundled out for 71 in just 18.5 overs. Though India did not win the title, the tournament gave India such bright stars like Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Piyush Chawla.

3. 2008 - India vs South Africa

This was the U19 World Cup that saw the initial glimpse of Virat Kohli, who captained India. India after that disappointing final against Pakistan two years ago, defeated South Africa via D/L method (12 runs) at Kuala Lumpur and bagged the trophy.

4. 2012: India vs Australia

India led by Unmukt Chand beat the Aussies by 6 wickets at Townsville, Australia, and the skipper made an unbeaten 100 in the final. But Chand could not make it big in the international arena and still is out in the wilderness looking for a way to reach the heights that he was expected to climb. There were some other talented players like Sandeep Sharma, Smit Patel and Baba Aparajith who are familiar names via their exploits in Ranji Trophy and IPL.

5. 2016: West Indies vs India

After getting skittled for 145, India fought hard with the ball but the target was too meagre to defend against the West Indians at Dhaka. Through this WC, India found the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ishn Kishan and Sarfaraz Khan.

6. 2018: India vs Australia

India were led to title by Prithvi Shaw, who soon appeared for India. India beat Aussies by 8 wickets in the tournament held at New Zealand and Manjot Kalra anchored the chase with a hundred. Apart from Shaw and Kalra, India's other stars were pacers Ishan Porel, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi along with batsman Shubman Gill.