India U-19 skipper Lakshya Raichandani praised his team's unwavering belief and optimism after a thrilling one-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Asia Cup final, crediting their collective resilience for successfully chasing the target.
India U-19 Skipper Lakshya Raichandani Reflects on Asia Cup Victory
By Vipul Kashyap New Delhi [India], November 15 (ANI): India U-19 skipper Lakshya Raichandani on Sunday said the team maintained its belief despite being reduced to 258/8 during the run chase against Pakistan in the U-19 Asia Cup final, adding that the players were optimistic about chasing down the target until the very end.
Speaking to ANI after arriving at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport following India's one-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the final, Raichandani said the team's plan was to take the match deep, banking on the good batting conditions to complete the chase. "Nothing, our plan was simply to take the game deep, and hopefully we took the game deep, and we knew the wicket was good so the chase would be easy. The atmosphere was quite tense in the dressing room, but we had belief, we were quite optimistic, so it was quite good," he said.
Asked about the team's confidence when India were struggling at 258/8 and the possibility of pulling the match back appeared difficult, the skipper said the players continued to trust one another and never gave up on the chase. "Everyone in the dressing room had complete belief in each other. We were playing with almost 11 batters, so we never stopped believing, and we were quite optimistic, and thankfully we chased it," he added.
Raichandani also defended the Indian players' celebrations following the title victory, saying the emotions were natural after the team had worked hard to win 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 match, so you know how hard you've worked to win the match, so those emotions just came out," he said.
Coming to the match, Pakistan opted to bat first, putting 337/9 on the board with a century from Usman Khan (107 in 111 balls, with 11 fours and three sixes) and fifties from Abdul Qadir (80 in 54 balls, with three fours and eight sixes) and Farhan Yousaf (63 in 60 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes). India started off well, with skipper Lakshya Raichandani (80 in 101 balls, with five fours) and Sehwag (58 in 61 balls, with nine fours) putting a 95-run opening stand. However, they soon collapsed to 252/8. A crucial partnership of 67-runs came from Manal Chauhan (47 in 32 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Mohit Ulva. After Manal's dismissal, Mohit (49* in 26 balls, with five fours and three sixes) took India to a win, with Chigurupati Venkata (11*) playing a crucial supporting hand. (ANI)
