Al Amerat, Nov 14 — India's Under-19 team always believed it could chase down Pakistan's imposing target in the U19 Asia Cup final, said Player of the Tournament Aaryavir Sehwag after the side pulled off a thrilling one-wicket victory to clinch a record-extending ninth title in Al Amerat near Muscat in Oman, on Saturday.
Chasing 338, India reached 339/9 in 50 overs, with Mohit Ulva hitting the winning boundary off the final delivery.
Captain Lakshya Raichandani led the chase with a composed 80, while Manal Chauhan and Ulva produced a crucial late partnership to keep India's hopes alive. "The discussion is that the wicket is good to bat on. There was always a belief that we would chase it down. We talk about it in team meetings; someone had to bat deep. I haven't spoken to my dad (Virender Sehwag); I will have a chat with him later," Aaryavir said after the match.
The son of former India opener Virender Sehwag finished the tournament as its leading run-scorer, with 361 runs from four matches, including a century and three half-centuries. India's chase kicked off with a 95-run opening stand between Aaryavir and Raichandani. Aaryavir, who was struck on his right forearm while playing on the off-side by Ali Raza, got back and scored 58 off 61 balls with nine fours.
Raichandani then steadied the innings with an 80 off 101 balls, but Pakistan kept taking wickets at regular intervals. India went into a bit of a hole after losing wickets in bunches, taking a tumble with the loss of Raichandani and Anvay Dravid in the 37th over, followed by Aryan Savsani and Kavya Patel.
Chauhan and Ulva then combined for a 57-run stand to take the team home. Chauhan struck a fluent 47 off 32 balls, hitting three fours and three sixes, while Ulva was 49 not out.
Chauhan said he remained focused when Ulva joined him at the crease and recalled the confidence the latter showed in their ability to finish the chase. "I was very focused. At that time, Ulva came to bat; he only said that we can finish. Just trust your process, trust yourself," he said.
Reflecting on the faith shown in him by the coaching staff to play the finisher's role, Chauhan thanked them for backing him throughout the tournament. "Yes, for that, I would really like to thank the support staff as well. They believed in me as a finisher, and the coach showed a lot of trust in me. They backed me right till the end. They told me just one thing -- once you go out to the middle, simply enjoy yourself and play your game," he said.
Chauhan also explained how he approached the chase, with India needing more than 100 runs when he came to the crease and the required run rate hovering around 10. "At that moment, I just had faith in myself. I was doing the calculations as I went along. I felt that even if I managed to hit just one boundary in an over and take four singles, we could comfortably maintain a run rate of 10 runs per over. So, the only thing on my mind was to make sure I hit at least one good shot every over," he said.
Chauhan was eventually dismissed for 47 in the 47th over, leaving India needing more runs with only one wicket remaining. He admitted that the pressure of the situation had affected him and that he was emotional after missing out on seeing the chase through.
"Yes, at that moment, I was putting a little too much pressure on myself. When I went inside, I even had a few tears in my eyes because opportunities like these don't come very often, and we had come so close to winning the match," he said.
Ulva and Chigurupati Venkata then held their nerve in the final overs. India needed eight runs from the last over and three off the final delivery. After collecting singles and surviving a stumping appeal, Ulva connected with Ahmed Hussain's final ball and sent it to the boundary to seal a memorable victory.
Earlier, Pakistan had posted 337/9 after centuries from Usman Khan and valuable contributions from Abdul Qadir and captain Farhan Yousaf. Usman scored 107 off 111 balls, while Qadir made 80 off 54 and Yousaf added 63.