India vs Australia, U19 World Cup Final: Uday Saharan and co. prepare for Australia clash with Retribution in Mind

In cricket, despite being the gentleman's game, settling the score is an important aspect.

As the nation awakes on a chilly morning this coming Sunday (February 11), eleven youngsters will start their mission to settle the score in faraway South Africa.

Yes, it is the U19 World Cup Final and India are up against Australia in the championship clash. Remember the same fixture not so long ago? Even if we don't want to, it comes into the mind spiralling like a nightmare.

The day of November 19, 2023 was a nightmare for a billion and a half Indians. The setup was at the iconic Narendra Modi stadium and the entire country was in anticipation of the third badge on the shirt, but it ended up with the Australians running around the pitch after just clinching their sixth World Cup title.

Rohit Sharma's India faltered in the final hurdle, just like Sourav Ganguly's India did back in 2003. But this pain is a lot more vivid and a lot bigger, given it was on Indian soil.

The gladiators of Indian cricket failed on that day, but the young colts have a chance for the perfect retribution.

India U19 Team - The Key Players

Uday Saharan's India has been a force in this U19 World Cup in South Africa. The Indian team has steamrolled past all of their opponents so far, and showcased their resilience and depth amid the adversities against South Africa in the semifinal.

Musheer Khan and Uday Saharan have been prolific with the bat, and then Sachin Dhas showed his class in the semifinal. India captain Uday Saharan is the highest run scorer of this tournament with 389 runs. In fact, the top three highest run getters in the tournament are Indian players - Uday Saharan (389), Musheer Khan (338) and Sachin Dhas (294).

In terms of bowling, Saumy Pandey is the star of the show with 17 wickets in just six matches. Naman Tiwari has been a force with his left-arm pace bowling and has 10 wickets so far.

India, its Payback Time

Its time for retribution. The youngsters will be treating it like another match but in the back of the mind, a sweet victory would put some ointment in the wound of the netizens, which is still quite open.

India are the defending champions of the U19 World Cup and if they clinch the title this time, their tally would rise to six. Yash Dhull, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand, Prithvi Shaw and Mohammed Kaif are the U19 World Cup-winning captains, and Uday Sahaan would love to be a part of the club.

Given the dynamics of the World Cup so far, India have looked far more convincing than Australia. The Aussies scraped past Pakistan in the semifinal and are behind India in terms of personnel talent, but we saw the same narrative two months back.

Hence it is important for the youngsters to not repeat the same mistakes. After surpassing the South Africa challenge and the way they lifted themselves in the match, the Indian team will be boosted with confidence. Although Australia is a daunting name and they often are a terrific side, Uday and his boys will be fancying themselves to win and clinch the title and accomplish the retribution.

Although there is no relevance with the senior World Cup and U19 World Cup, but the November 19, 2023 night felt a personal despair, and hopefully February 11, 2024 will mend some of that.