ICC U-19 World Cup 2018: India Favourites to Lift the Cup - Sourav Ganguly

Former Team India skipper, Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday said the India U-19 team are the favourites to lift the World Cup on Saturday against Australia.

India had defeated Australia in their opening group game by a huge margin of 100 runs. Among all the sides they have looked the most organised unit in all three departments of the game.

The Men in Blue also defeated arch-rivals, Pakistan by 203 runs to qualify for the final against Australia on Saturday.

“India will win the U-19 World Cup,” Ganguly told reporters on the sidelines of a Cricket Year Book’s 20th anniversary.

“Shubman Gill, (Kamlesh) Nagarkoti, (Shivam) Mavi, Ishan Porel they are exceptional talent,” he added.

“Indian cricket system is so good that the structure has been made and without structure, you cannot produce cricketers. These players are products of Indian cricket structure. In the next five years, Indian cricket, save Australia and England, will be the best in the world,” said Ganguly who was in New Zealand for commentary duties for the initial few matches.

Ganguly further said the infrastructure and the system are simply great.

“Our infrastructure and system is great. The madness for Indian Premier League is massive. They fill the stands, and it’s madness. So the support of the people will take this sport forward,” he said.

“I hope they win under (chief coach) Rahul (Dravid). They won convincingly in every game. They beat Australia by more than 100 runs and hope they do it in the final also,” Ganguly added.

Apart from the victory against Australia, the Men in Blue defeated minnows Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe in the last two group games before thrashing neighbours Bangladesh in the Quarter-finals.

When asked about the promising lanky fast bowler from Bengal, Ishan Porel who bagged 4/17 in the Semi-final, Ganguly said,

“He is a (Cricket Association of Bengal’s) Vision 2020 product. He stays in Bali (outskirt of Kolkata) and from there he had joined us.

“The Cooch Behar Trophy U-19 which we won, he had a huge role to play. He and Kanishk Seth did well. U-19 is a stepping stone. He has to bridge the gap between U-19 and the senior level. We will help him go in the right direction,” Ganguly concluded.

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