ICC U19 World Cup - Winners and performers of 9 editions so far

2004 – Bangladesh | Winner – Pakistan

Bangladesh hosted its first of two ICC U19 Cricket World Cups in 2004 from 15 February to 5 March. Apart from the 10 Full Members, Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Scotland participated as qualifiers.

In the Super League final, Pakistan defeated the West Indies by 25 runs to win its first ICC U19 CWC title. Batting first, Pakistan collected 230 for nine in 50 overs with man of the match Asif Iqbal scoring 54, Sulaman Qadir 42, Adnan Zaheer 33 and Zulqarnain Haider 23. For the West Indies, Rishi Bachan took three for 34 while Ravi Rampaul bagged one for 54. In turn, the West Indies was bowled out for 205 in 47.1 overs with captain and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin scoring 36, Tishan Maraj 32, Xavier Marshall 26 and Jonathan Augustus 25. For Pakistan, Tariq Mahmood took three for 34 and Jahangir Mirza claimed two for 29.

In the Plate Championship final, half centuries by Naeem Islam (66), Nafees Iqbal (59) and Aftab Ahmed (57) helped Bangladesh to 257-9 in 50 overs. In turn, Australia was bowled out for 249 with three balls to spare to hand the home side victory by eight runs. Stephen O’Keefe with 65 and Ahilen Beadle with 54 were the main run-getters for Australia while Enamul Haque was the pick of Bangladesh bowlers with figures of 9.3-1-31-5.

Shikhar Dhawan of India with 505 runs was declared the player of the tournament while local hero Enamul Haque with 22 wickets was the most successful bowler.

From this event, Alastair Cook has moved on to lead England, Suresh Raina has captained India, Angelo Mathews is currently at the helm of Sri Lanka, Denesh Ramdin has skippered West Indies and Prosper Utseya has captained Zimbabwe. In fact, Cook won the ICC Test Player of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards in London in 2011.

Other notable players to stamp their mark on the international circuit include Stefan O’Keefe, Tim Paine (both Australia), Aftab Ahmed, Shahadat Hossain (both Bangladesh), Steve Davies, Luke Wright, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Liam Plunkett (all England), Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, RP Singh, VRV Singh (all India), Bradley-John Watling (New Zealand), Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Vernon Philander (both South Africa), Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka), Xavier Marshall, Dinesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons, Kirk Edwards (all West Indies) and Sean Williams, Craig Ervine, Graeme Cremer and Ed Rainsford (all Zimbabwe).

2006 – Sri Lanka | Winner – Pakistan

Pakistan celebrate after winning the U19 World Cup

Pakistan became the only country to win back-to-back titles when it defeated India by 38 runs in a low-scoring thriller at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed led the Pakistan side in the event which was held from 5 to 19 February and featured the 10 Full Members along with Ireland, Namibia, Nepal, Scotland, Uganda and United States of America (USA).

Electing to bat first, Pakistan was skittled out for 109 in 47.1 overs with Rameez Raja scoring 25. For India, Piyush Chawla took four for eight while Ravindra Jadeja claimed three for 16. In turn, India was bundled out for 71 in 18.5 overs after Chawla (25) and Pinal Shah (16) put on 39 runs for the eighth wicket. For Pakistan, man of the match Anwar Ali returned figures of 9-0-35-5 and he was well supported by Akhtar Ayub (three for nine) and Jamshed Ahmed (two for 24).

In the Plate Championship final, Nepal held its nerves to defeat New Zealand by one wicket at the P Sara Stadium. New Zealand batted first and scored 204 in 49.2 overs with Todd Astle top scoring with 66. In turn, the last wicket pair of Ratan Rauniyar (26 not out) and Raj Shrestha added 13 runs in eight balls to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Basant Regmi, for his innings of 66, was declared the man of the match.

India’s Cheteshwar Pujara, for his series aggregate of 349 runs at an average of just over 116, was adjudged the player of the tournament. The bowling honours went to Australia’s Moises Henriques, who took 16 wickets, followed by Pakistan’s Anwar Ali, who bagged 15 wickets.

Bangladesh produced two national captains from this tournament – Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, while Kieron Pollard has led the West Indies.

Other prominent players to graduate from this event to international cricket include David Warner, Usman Khawaja (both Australia), Tom Cooper (the Netherlands), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Martin Guptill (New Zealand), Craig Kieswetter (South Africa but now represents England), Kemar Roach (West Indies) and Graeme Cremer and Sean Williams (both Zimbabwe).

2008 – Malaysia | Winner – India

ICC Under 19 World Cup Final – India v South Africa

Virat Kohli became the second India captain to lift the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup when his side defeated South Africa by 12 runs via the Duckworth/Lewis Method at the Kinrara Academy Oval ground in Kuala Lumpur, when the event was staged from 17 February to 2 March in Malaysia.

India batted first and was dismissed for 159 in 45.4 overs but South Africa’s target was revised to 116 runs in 25 over due to rain. However, apart from Reeza Hendricks (35) and Wayne Parnell (29), no South Africa batsman could face the India bowlers comfortably as it finished twelve runs short of the target at 103 for eight. India fast bowler Ajitesh Argal, for his figures of 5-2-7-2, was declared the player of the final.

In the Plate Championship final, West Indies defeated Nepal by seven wickets at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur.

Nepal was bowled out for a paltry 74 in 25.3 overs after man of the match Jason Dawes took four for 18 and Darren Bravo picked up three for nine. The West Indies achieved victory in 14.2 overs.

India’s Tanmay Srivastava was the leading run-getter with 262 runs, followed by West Indies’ Kieran Powell (253) and Virat Kohli (235). However, Tim Southee returned strongly after a disappointing 2006 campaign to capture 17 wickets at an average of 6.64 per wicket and won the player of the tournament award. Wayne Parnell of South Africa was, nevertheless, the leading wicket-taker in the series with 18 wickets at just over eight runs per wicket.

The tournament, apart from the 10 Full Members, also featured Bermuda, Ireland, Malaysia, Namibia, Nepal and Papua New Guinea.

From this edition, Virat Kohli has gone on to captain India, Kane Williamson has skippered New Zealand and Dinesh Chandimal has led Sri Lanka.

Other prominent players from this event that have gone on to excel at the international level include Phillip Hughes, James Pattinson, Steven Smith (all Australia), Rubel Hossain (Bangladesh), Steven Finn (England), Ravindra Jadeja (India), Junaid Khan, Umar Akmal (both Pakistan), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka), Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo (both West Indies) and Kyle Jarvis (Zimbabwe).

Southee won the T20I Performance of the Year Award for his five for 18 against Pakistan on 26 December 2010 in Auckland while Finn won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year at the LG ICC Awards in London in 2011.