India skipper Virat says current U-19 team are higher on confidence when compared to his 2008 World Cup-winning juniors; colts play Australia in final on Saturday
India's Shubman Gill celebrates catching Pakistan's Hassan Khan with teammate Shivam Mavi during the U-19 World Cup semis in Christchurch on Tuesday
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India captain Virat Kohli yesterday backed the national U-19 squad to win the World Cup final against Australia and said he will be closely tracking the title clash on Saturday.
"It feels amazing (to see them do well). I interacted with them before they left and it's a lovely bunch of boys. Compared to our lot (when India won in 2008 under Kohli), the confidence levels are somewhere else which is a great sign," said Kohli ahead of the first ODI against South Africa today. "You'll see many people making a strong statement for themselves much earlier than we all did. They've done amazingly well and the semi-final (against Pakistan) was an amazing game." Kohli said the boys look set to win a record fourth U-19 world title. "Playing such a high pressure game (against Pakistan), they really stood up and that's what you want to see. You want to see people standing up when it's needed the most. I want to wish them all the very best for the final.
Virat Kohli
"We'll all be following very keenly and we'll be eagerly waiting to see them lift the cup again. I believe they have the talent, and they believe in that much more than I do, which I think is very, very important," he signed off.
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