2018 Under-19 World Cup: India vs Zimbabwe, 5 talking points

Facing Zimbabwe in their last group B encounter, the Indian under-19 squad made light work of their opponents, defeating the rivals in yet another convincing manner. After having shot down Zimbabwe for 154 in 48.1 overs, the Indian openers chased down the paltry target in just 21.4 overs.

Here are five talking points from the match.

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The two changes made to the Indian squad

Ahead of the business end of the tournament, the Indian management made two changes to the team, including wicket-keeper Harvik Desai in place of Aryan Juyal and Riyan Parag coming in for Himanshu Rana.

The youngsters, who do not have much List A experience, having played just 5 and 2 matches respectively, were thrust into the side to acclimatize to the pressures that a World Cup encounter entails, in case of an injury to a member later on in the tournament.

The keeper had two stumpings to his name today, cleverly whipping off the bails to scalp Milton Shumba off the bowling of Anukul Roy first and then smartly stumping Alistair Frost as well, off an Abhishek Sharma delivery that drifted in to the batsman.

Parag gave away 17 runs in his 5 overs and tasted success when he clean bowled Wesley Madhavere, a flat delivery that skidded on to the batsman, with the inside edge rolling back to the stumps.

Liam Roche and Milton Shumba provide resistance

Liam Roche offered some resistance

Liam Roche and Milton Shumba got together with the scoreboard reading a precarious 61/3 and the duo put up a fighting 49-run partnership in 12.1 overs to give slight hopes of raising a competitive target on the board.

While captain Roche made 31 off 45 balls, with a four and a six, his batting partner was the highest run-getter in the innings, notching up 36 in 59 deliveries. Both fell to the clever bowling of Anukul Roy, who continued to impress. Once they were back in the hut, no other batsman from Zimbabwe showed signs of staging a comeback, and all ten of them were dismissed with the score reading 154.

Anukul Roy continues to impress

Anukul Roy starred yet again

After picking up 5/14 in 6.5 overs against Papua New Guinea, spinner Anukul Roy continued with his fine form against Zimbabwe as well, picking up 4/20 in 7.1 overs.

His first wicket - that of Milton Shumba - came from a piece of clever bowling; wherein the bowler quickly gauged the batsman’s intent to come out of the crease after having hit a six in the previous delivery. True to his predictions, Shumba was deceived by the flight on the ball, and was outdone by the drift and the lack of spin on offer. Behind the stumps, Desai removed the bails in a flash and he was back to the pavilion.

The same over, he had Robert Chimhinya plumb in front; with the delivery keeping low and hitting him on the pads off an inside edge.

Roche departed off a quicker delivery and Nkosilathi Nungu hardly had any answers to the delivery swung across him and with his departure, the Zimbabwean innings folded up as well, but not before Roy produced yet another impressive performance.

Shubman Gill’s batting heroics

Shubman Gill's blistering knock paved the way for India's comfortable victory

Pushed up to open the innings, Shubman Gill carried on with his scintillating form, scoring his second fifty in the tournament. His 90 off 59 deliveries had 13 boundaries and a towering six.

Even the back-of-a-length deliveries were easily punched to the off-side with perfect timing and the gaps were found with ease. Against the turn of Roche, he was able to drive inside out towards extra cover and the poor deliveries too were smashed away, with the perfect roll of the wrists reminding one and all of Virat Kohli.

He reached his fifty with a slight jab at a short ball that went over the mid-wicket boundary for a huge six. He stood still, the head was perfectly balanced and the bat swing was one of the cleanest that has been seen. Along with Prithvi Shaw, Gill is fast emerging as an immensely talented batsman for the nation, and his heroic displays with the bat which were interspersed with breath-taking shots give proof of just that.

A convincing 3-0 display in the group stages

India look like the strongest team in the tournament

India wrapped up their group stage matches with a display of dominance, having defeated Australia by 100 runs and following it up with 10-wicket wins over PNG and Zimbabwe. They finished with 6 points in three games, with a staggering run rate of +3.93 and will face Bangladesh in the quarterfinals next.

The colts just lost 7 wickets while batting and picked up all 30 wickets with the ball in the three games that they played and have emerged as one of the strongest units in the tournament.