India U-19 captain Lakshya Raichandani said the team never lost belief despite slipping to 258/8 during the chase against Pakistan in the U-19 Asia Cup final, adding that the players remained confident of reaching the target until the very end. Speaking to ANI after arriving at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport following India’s thrilling one-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan, Raichandani said the team’s plan was to take the match deep and trust the conditions to help them complete the chase. “Nothing, our plan was simply to take the game deep. We knew the wicket was good, so chasing was always possible. The atmosphere was quite tense in the dressing room, but we had belief and remained optimistic throughout,” he said.
Asked about the team’s confidence when India were reduced to 258/8 and the chase appeared to be slipping away, Raichandani said the players continued to back each other and never gave up.
“Everyone in the dressing room had complete belief in each other. We were playing with almost 11 batters, so we never stopped believing. We stayed optimistic and, thankfully, managed to pull it off,” he added.
Raichandani also defended the celebrations that followed India’s title win, saying the emotions were a natural result of the hard work the team had put in to achieve success in a high-pressure final.
“It was completely justified. A lot of emotions come out when you win a match like this. It’s a final, and you know how hard you’ve worked to get to that point. Those emotions just came out,” he said.
Match Summary
Pakistan opted to bat first and posted 337/9, powered by a century from Usman Khan (107 off 111 balls, 11 fours and three sixes) and half-centuries from Abdul Qadir (80 off 54 balls) and Farhan Yousaf (63 off 60 balls).
India began strongly through captain Raichandani (80 off 101 balls) and Aaryavir Sehwag (58 off 61 balls), who added 95 runs for the opening wicket.
However, the chase took a dramatic turn as India slumped to 252/8.
A crucial 67-run partnership between Manal Chauhan (47 off 32 balls) and Mohit Ulva revived India’s hopes.
After Manal’s dismissal, Mohit remained unbeaten on 49 off 26 balls, striking five fours and three sixes, while Chigurupati Venkata (11*) provided valuable support as India completed a memorable one-wicket victory.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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