MATCH CENTRE

India will be appearing in their fourth consecutive final when they face England at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday, and have won the tournament a record four times in total, in 2018, 2012, 2008 and 2000.

But Yash Dhull’s side haven’t enjoyed a straightforward path to Saturday’s showpiece match, with the captain one of a number of Indian players forced to miss matches after testing positive for Covid-19 during the tournament.

Thankfully Dhull is back to full health and has hit top form, as shown with a sparkling 110 in the semi-final against Australia.

And the 19-year-old says he and the team are trying to treat Saturday’s game as they would any other.

“The team morale is high, we are excited to play the final,” Dhull said in Friday’s media conference.

“It’s the final but it is still just a game. So, we will play with the positive mindset, stick to the basics and we will look to execute our plans.”

India received a fillip ahead of the fixture when they were contacted by former all-formats captain Virat Kohli with some words of encouragement.

“He gave us his best wishes and said the team is doing well,” Dhull revealed.

“When a senior player speaks with the team, the team morale gets a boost. He spoke to us about some basic things such as how to play normal cricket, how to stick to our game plan etc. It was good to interact with him.”

India have caught the eye with the bat throughout the World Cup, but with the ball they have been quietly excellent too, managing to restrict all five of their opponents to totals less than 200 so far.

Against a big-hitting England that record may be threatened, but Dhull says that his bowlers have a plan and will be aiming to keep it tight against such a dangerous opposition.

“It will be a good challenge against England. They play attacking cricket and look to dominate the opposition.

“Our approach against them will be to bowl as many dot balls as possible.”

The ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Final will start at 09:00 local time at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.

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