Kohli's motivational talk before the U-19 World Cup final, Kapil '83

Yash Dhull, the India U-19 captain, claimed that interacting with former India captain Virat Kohli has boosted the team's spirit ahead of the summit game with England.
 By Navhind Express News Desk Updated: Feb 5, 2022, 15:38 IST
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On Saturday, India and England will compete in the Under 19 World Cup final at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Surprisingly, both sides have gone undefeated in the competition.

In their fourth consecutive final, India is aiming for a record fifth victory, while England hasn't won the trophy since the likes of Rob Key, Graeme Swann, and Owais Shah brushed New Zealand aside by seven wickets in Johannesburg 24 years ago.

The Indian camp didn't hold extensive meetings on the eve of the much-anticipated final. Instead, the gang got together to watch '83,' a Bollywood film. The film is based on the legendary against-all-odds triumph by the Indian team headed by Kapil Dev over the formidable West Indies.


Virat Kohli, the former captain of India, also contacted the squad to encourage them. Captain Yash Dhull said the lads benefited from their contact with Kohli. Kohli, who went on to become a world-beater after leading India's U-19 team to the 2008 World Cup triumph, talked about how he dealt with pressure in major games like the World Cup final.

"It will be a good battle versus England," Dhull added. They prefer to play aggressive cricket and try to outscore their opponents. Against them, our strategy will be to bowl as many dot balls as possible.

"Team morale is at an all-time high. We're looking forward to playing in the championship game. It's the championship game, but it's still just a game. So, we'll have a good attitude and stick to the essentials.

"He (Virat Kohli) wished us luck since the squad is performing well." As a result, his remarks will instill confidence in us. When a senior player addresses the team, the team's morale improves. He went through the fundamentals with us, such as how to play conventional cricket, how to stick to our game plan, and so on. It was a pleasure to work with him."


On their road to the final, the current India U-19 squad had overcome far too many challenges. With the exception of the recent Asia Cup, India's preparations for the event were hampered by the epidemic, with few national camps or tournaments held in the past two years.

The four-time champions got off to a promising start in the competition, defeating a strong South Africa team by 45 runs, but soon found themselves unable to field a playing XI after many players were discovered to have caught Covid-19 only hours before their match against Ireland.

Following a Covid outbreak, five members of the squad were ruled out of their second group match against Ireland on January 19.

Captain Yash Dhull, his deputy Shaik Rasheed, Aaradhya Yadav, Manav Parakh, and Siddarth Yadav were among those who were unable to attend the Ireland and Uganda matches, requiring the BCCI to fly in replacements.

For their encounter against Uganda, India was short on players and had to bring in six reserves.


India, on the other hand, rose to the occasion and soundly defeated Ireland and Uganda before defeating Bangladesh by five wickets in a tight chase in the quarterfinals, followed by a 94-run victory against Australia in the semi-finals.

England captain Tom Prest is well aware of that history and how far his team has already come, and with the likes of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan offering their backing, he is hoping to emulate the 1998 group.

"It's the first time England has been in this final in 24 years," he remarked. I'm not sure we can believe it right now, but we'll be playing in the World Cup final.

We received messages this morning from several members of the England senior squad, indicating that they had been watching it and were really impressed with us. It's comforting to know that we have so much support from family and friends back home.

"They were stating how amazed they were with us and how happy they were of what we had accomplished in reaching our first Under-19 Men's Final in 24 years." It's incredible to think they've been watching and following you.

"We've attempted to emulate Eoin Morgan's aggressive style of cricket." We constantly aim to choose the good choice, whether it's with the bat, ball, or field. One of the things they conveyed in their video was this.

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