U19 World Cup 2024: Five India players who played crucial roles in helping defending champions qualify for final

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U19 World Cup 2024: India qualified for the Under-19 World Cup 2024 final by beating South Africa by two wickets in Benoni on Tuesday, January 5. The five-time champions entered their ninth U-19 World Cup final, and they would be aiming to lift the trophy for the sixth time on Sunday.

India have been unbeaten in the tournament so far. In fact, they have been unbeaten ever since landing in South Africa for a tri-nation series immediately before the start of the ICC event.

Coming into the tournament, India were not the favourites. Bangladesh stunned them in the U19 Asia Cup 2023 semi-final, and question marks were there on the Uday Saharan-led team.

However, proving all the critics wrong, India U19 are now a step away from glory. Each player from the team has played a key role in the team's rollicking campaign in the tournament, but in the article, let's have a look at five India players with highest impact in the U19 World Cup 2024.

Uday Saharan: India captain Uday Saharan has led from the front throughout the tournament, and something similar would be expected from him on Sunday. The right-hand batter is the leading run-scorer in the tournament.

Saharan has scored 389 runs in six matches at an average of 64.83. He has hit one hundred and three fifties and held the Indian innings in the middle. Even in the semi-final match, Saharan scored 81 off 124 balls when India were reduced to 32/4 while chasing 245 against a very strong South Africa bowling unit.

Musheer Khan: The right-hand batter was the first Indian batter to score a hundred in the U19 World Cup 2024. Musheer is currently the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament.

He has scored 338 runs in six matches at an average of 67.60. Musheer has scores of 3, 118, 73, 131. 9* and 4 in the Under-19 World Cup 2024. He has also chipped in with six wickets with his left-arm spin bowling. The 18-year-old would be aiming to cap off on a high.

Sachin Dhas: The 19-year-old batter played a few exciting cameos at the start, but has got the big runs just one time. He scored a hundred in India's last Super Six match against Nepal.

In the semi-final, when India were reduced to 32/4, Dhas forged a 171-run partnership with captain Saharan to help India survive a heartbreak defeat. The right-hand batter scored 96 runs off 95 balls. The innings consisted of 11 fours and a six.

Also, Dhas is now the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament. He has scored 294 runs in six matches at an average of 73.50.

Saumy Pandey: The left-arm spinner takes Ravindra Jadeja as his inspiration, and has walked the talk by picking 17 wickets - joint second-highest in the tournament.

He is carrying an average of 8.47 and an economy rate of 2.44. No other bowler with more than five wickets has a better economy in the Under-19 World Cup 2024. In the semi-final against South Africa, Saumy gave away just 38 runs for a wicket. The left-arm spinner picked four wickets each in both the Super Six matches.

Naman Tiwari: The left-arm pacer is India's second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament so far. He has picked eight wickets in five matches at an average of 17.50 and an economy rate of 4.72.

Tiwari has always looked for wickets and has managed to make an impact on the overall game despite not always succeeding in taking wickets. He picked the wicket of dangerous Richard Seletswane (64 off 100) in the semi-final. The pacer picked four wickets each against USA and Ireland. Tiwari can emerge as India's trump card in the final as well.