Bulawayo: Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first in a must-win clash against arch-rivals India in the ongoing ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup at the Queen’s Sports Club on Sunday.
Playing XIs:
Pakistan: Hamza Zahoor (week), Sameer Minhas, Usman Khan, Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousuf (catch), Husayfa Ahsan, Ali Hasan Baloch, Abdul Subhan, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Syam and Ali Raza.
India: Aaron George, Vaibhav Suriyavanshi, Ayush Madre (catch), Vihan Malhotra, Abhiyan Kundu (week), Vedant Trivedi, RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chauhan, Kilan Patel, Henil Patel, Deepesh Devendran.
Face to Face:
Historically, the two arch-rivals have met 29 times, with the Men in Blue dominating with 16 wins, while the Green Shirts have 12 wins, while one match ended in a draw.
- Matches played: 29
- Pakistan U19 Won: 12
- India U19 won: 16
- No result: 1
The two teams last met in the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup 2025 final, where Pakistan dominated India by 191 runs to lift the title.
Batting first, the national team amassed 347-8 in 50 overs, with opener Samir Minhas scoring 172 off 113 balls with 17 fours and 9 sixes, while Ahmed Hussain scored 56 runs.
In reply, India were bowled out for 156, with tail-end batsman Deepesh Devendran scoring 36 off 16 balls, including 6 fours and 2 sixes, while the rest of the batsmen failed to contribute significantly.
For Pakistan, Ali Raza recorded impressive figures of 4/42 in 6.2 overs, while Mohammad Syam, Abdul Subban and Husaifa Ahsan claimed two wickets each.
Form Guide:
India, despite being in a comfortable position and unbeaten throughout the tournament, are yet to qualify for the semi-finals and will be looking for a win against Pakistan to clinch a place in the top four.
Meanwhile, Pakistan, having recently reached back-to-back Asia Cup finals, will continue their strong run against India in major events. However, a win is crucial for the Green Shirts if they want to advance to the semi-finals.
Pakistan U19: W, W, W, L, W (Most recent first)
India U19: W, W, W, W, W