Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated the victorious India U-19 cricket team on winning the ICC World Cup U-19 title. (More Cricket News)
India defeated England by four wickets at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua for a record-extending fifth world title.
Modi, in a Twitter post, wrote: "Extremely proud of our young cricketers. Congratulations to the Indian team for winning the ICC U19 World Cup. They have shown great fortitude through the tournament. Their stellar performance at the highest level shows that the future of Indian cricket is in safe and able hands."
India rode on a sensational all-round show from Raj Angad Bawa. The Chandigarh boy shone with the ball with a sensational fiver (5/31) to help India shot England out for 189 before hitting a valuable 35 down the order to help India chase down the target of 190 with 2.2 overs to spare.
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It was a remarkable achievement for India, who had won the title in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2018, as they found themselves into a situation where they were struggling to field a playing XI after multiple players contracted COVID-19 hours before their match against Ireland.
Six members of the squad, including captain Yash Dhull and his deputy Shaik Rasheed, missed both the Ireland and Uganda fixtures, forcing the BCCI to fly in precautionary reinforcements.
Earlier, England opted to bat after winning the toss but they were shot out by India for 189 in 44.5 overs with pacer Bawa (5/31 in 9.5 overs) and Ravi Kumar (4/34 from 9 overs) sharing the spoils.
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England were reduced to 91 for seven in the 25th over but James Rew single-handedly resurrected their innings with a 116-ball 95 to help his side close in on 200.
(With PTI inputs)
