Aakash Chopra blames poor fast bowling for defeat against Australia in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Final

Former India opener Aakash Chopra pointed out fast bowling as one of India’s weak points after India U19 lost the ICC Under-19 World Cup finals against Australia U19.

However, the best bowling performance from India came from a fast bowler Raj Limbani who took 3/38 in his 10 overs and Aakash Chopra lauded him for his performance. Australia U19 defeated the defending champions by 79 runs in the finals and they won the title.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first in the finals and they posted 253/7 in their 50 overs and then bundled India for 174 to win the match by 79 runs. Mahli Beardman was the Player of The Match for his match-winning spell of 3/15 in seven overs which also included two maiden overs.

The 18-year-old bowler finished his tournament with 10 wickets in six games at an average of 10.50. This was the first time Australia defeated India in the Under-19 World Cup finals.

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Aakash Chopra picked India’s underwhelming pace bowling as one of their hurdles. He elaborated, “Our fast bowling was not that good. Raj Limbani did very well but I saw the fast bowling as slightly weak. We were slightly more focused on spin but you actually needed fast bowling on this Benoni pitch. We didn’t attack enough with fast bowling.”

The reputed commentator opined that the seamers should have struck more blows with the new ball. “Yes, our fast bowlers picked up wickets but you should have picked up at least three opposition wickets in the first 10 overs. Raj Limbani picked up one wicket. You should have got two more wickets if the fast bowling had been good from both ends,” Aakash Chopra stated.

Aakash Chopra Reckons Short Balls As Another Stumbling Block For India

The Former India opener also talked about short balls being an issue for the Indian batters as they are not prepared for it from their childhood. He talked about Indians being 50-50 against short balls depending on the conditions.

He said that when someone has not played something from childhood and suddenly encounters that, it makes a difference in the gameplay.

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Aakash Chopra picked the issues faced by Indian batters against the short ball as another stumbling block. He explained, “A big learning we got was that we are slightly 50-50 against the short ball. It is down to conditioning. When we have not played or learned something from childhood, suddenly when we encounter that, we are not that ready. It makes a difference.”

The former cricketer observed that the six-foot-tall Australian pacers got the ball to bounce steeply. “The opposing team played four fast bowlers and all four of them were six feet tall, and they bowled bouncers regularly. Even if they were bowling-length balls, it was going close to the ears. Their keeper was catching the ball above his shoulders,” he said.

India U19 skipper Uday Saharan and batting all-rounder Musheer Khan ended up being the top two run scorers in the tournament while Saumy Pandey became the second-highest wicket-taker with 18 wickets in seven games at an average of 10.28. Uday Saharan scored 397 runs in seven innings while Musheer Khan scored 360 runs.

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