The Hindu : Sport : Under-19 World Cup from today

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Sunday, Feb 17, 2008
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Under-19 World Cup from today

India seeded second behind defending champion Pakistan

KUALA LUMPUR: A confident India will kick off its under-19 cricket World Cup campaign against East Asia-Pacific qualifier Papua New Guinea in a Group ‘B’ clash at the Kinrara Oval here on Sunday.

The team, fresh from its successful tour of South Africa, is among the favourites to win the title, which it had last won in 2000.

The batsmen were in excellent form in South Africa and India would bank on captain Virat Kohli, Saurav Tiwary, Manish Pandey, Abhinav Mukund and Pradeep Sangwan to post healthy totals.

Kohli confident

Kohli is confident that his team will live up to expectations. “I don’t feel the pressure too much from back home. For me it is a matter of pride to serve my country. Hopes are high and the boys have the talent. I think we can do it,” Kohli said.

The 16 participating teams have been divided into four groups with the top two progressing to the super league quarterfinals while the two bottom-placed teams from each group qualifying for the Plate championship quarterfinals.

A total of 44 matches, including 24 in the first round, seven in the super league and 13 in play-offs will be played at seven venues in the tournament, stretching up to two weeks.

In other matches on the opening day, defending champion Pakistan will play host Malaysia in Group ‘A’, Australia is pitted against Namibia in Group ‘C’ and in Group ‘D’ England takes on Ireland.

Aiming for a hat-trick

Pakistan captain Iman Wasim is itching to secure an unprecedented hat-trick of wins at this level after its title triumphs in 2004 and 2006. “To represent one’s own country at international level has always been a dream which has come true now. Winning the U-19 Cricket World Cup for the third time in a row will be a huge challenge because there is a lot of talent out there. But we will play to win and only to win,” Wasim said.

With the likes of Umar Amin, Umer Akmal, Ahmed Shahzad and Adil Raza already showing good form in the warm-up games, Malaysia will have its work cut out to threaten the strong Pakistanis. Pakistan is the top-seeded team in the tournament while India is seeded second. Australia (winner in the inaugural event back in 1988 and also in 2002) is seeded third and England (winner in 1999) fourth. — PTI

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