Aaryavir Sehwag centre stage as India meet Afghanistan in U-19 Asia Cup semi
India will aim to capitalise on Aaryavir Sehwag's form when they face Afghanistan in the men's U-19 Asia Cup semifinal at Al Amerat on Thursday, with a place in the final at stake.
Aaryavir, the son of former India opener Virender Sehwag, is the tournament's leading run-scorer after an innings of 160 off 168 balls that helped India to a 70-run victory over the UAE; his other scores in the event are 70 not out and 22, taking him to 252 runs from three innings. India progressed to the semifinals with wins over Nepal and the UAE and suffered a single group-stage defeat to Pakistan, who beat them by three wickets. Arjun Rajput contributed a century, scoring 107 against Pakistan, while medium pacer Ishan Sood and left-arm spinner Manal Chauhan have taken eight and five wickets respectively, figures India will look to rely on against the Group B toppers.
Afghanistan finished on top of Group B, with their batting led principally by Shah Faisal Rahimi and Subhan Zakhail, and their bowling spearheaded by Noor Ali, who has taken 13 wickets in the tournament; Amir Hamza has also claimed five wickets. Those returns underpin Afghanistan's route to the semifinal and present the main threats India must counter.
India's bowling dismantled Nepal for 128 in one group match before skipper Lakshya Raichandani and Sehwag steered the chase, while the team's batsmen compiled 309 for seven against the UAE with Sehwag again prominent. Conversely, India were bowled out for 208 against Pakistan, a collapse in which Arjun Rajput carried much of the scoring burden and only four other batters reached double figures.
Tournament statistics and individual contributions underline the contest: Aaryavir's 252 runs from three innings and Noor Ali's 13 wickets are the leading returns cited for each side, with supporting performances from Ishan Sood (eight wickets), Manal Chauhan (five) and Amir Hamza (five) shaping expectations for the semifinal.
India U19 Squad: Lakshya Rajesh Raichandani(c), Aaryavir Sehwag, VK Vineeth, Arjun Rajput, Yashbardhan Chauhan, Anvay Dravid(w), Manal Chauhan, Mohit Ulva, Aryan Savsani, Kavya Patel, Ishan Sood, Yashveer Goud, Kushagra Ojha, Rajat Baghel, Shavin Vinodh
Afghanistan U19 Squad: Abidullah Nadarjan, Faridullah Ihsas, Subhan Zakhail, Noman Salarzai(w), Shah Faisal Rahimi, Tahir Sarwary, Amir Hamza, Sohail Khan(c), Mohammad Ali, Abdullah Hamdard, Noor Ali Niazi, Sami Mubarez, Bilal Salimankhil, Lutfullah Mohammadi, Imran Mohammadi, Subhan Ali, Farid Zadran, Faisal Mubariz, Abidullah Abid, Hamza Khan Alikhil
The winner of Thursday's semifinal will advance to the U-19 Asia Cup final.
