Very Very Special: Laxman lauds BCCI after India's fifth U-19 World Cup triumph

India beat England by four wickets on Saturday in the final at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua

Moments after India’s unprecedented fifth U-19 World Cup triumph, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman lauded the BCCI for running a world-class youth structure and organising competitive age-group tournaments.

Having battled a Covid-19 outbreak in their camp which nearly derailed their campaign, India beat England by four wickets on Saturday in the final at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.

India had England all out for 189 after having them at 61 for six at one stage in the final.

Medium pacer Raj Bawa (5/31) ran through the English middle-order after the in-from left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar (4/34) struck two early blows.

India completed the chase with 14 balls to spare as Shaik Rasheed (50), Nishant Sindhu (50 not out) and Raj Bawa (35) made match-winning contributions with the bat.

“I think the BCCI has to be complemented. The number of matches and tournaments each age group level gets to play, whether U-16, U-19 or U-23. But unfortunately due to Covid-19 they didn’t get to play any tournament and that’s why I think this tournament win is very special,” Laxman said.

Delighted with the victory, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly announced a cash award for the entire team. “Congratulations to the under 19 team and the support staff and the selectors for winning the world cup in such a magnificent way ..The cash prize announced by us of 40 lakhs (INR 4 million) is a small token of appreciation but their efforts are beyond value .. magnificent stuff..,” Ganguly tweeted.

Laxman, who accompanied the team to the West Indies for the tournament, lauded the boys for winning two back-to-back tournaments (Under 19 Asia Cup in December, 2021, and the Under 19 ICC World Cup).

“Firstly huge congratulations to the selection committee. It was a new selection committee and quite challenging for them to identify this group. After that, the coaching staff with Hrishikesh (Kanitkar) as the head coach, Sai Raj, Munish, and all the support staff,” Laxman said.

“The way they got this group together, they worked really hard, won the Asia Cup and the preparation for this World Cup was fantastic. But in the middle of this tournament, we all know what happened to the boys. To test positive (for Covid-19) but show the kind of resilience and positive attitude was exemplary.”