India aim for title triumph at the U19 T20 World Cup
Squad
Shafali Verma (c), Shweta Sehrawat (vc), Richa Ghosh (wk), G Trisha, Soumya Tiwari, Sonia Mehdiya, Hurley Gala, Hrishita Basu (wk), Sonam Yadav, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Titas Sadhu, Falak Naz, Shabnam MD.
Standby players: Shikha, Najla CMC, Yashashree.
Schedule
January 14 v South Africa in Benoni
January 16 v UAE in Benoni
January 18 v Scotland in Benoni
Key Player - Shafali Verma
With plenty of senior cricket experience under her belt, Shafali Verma will be the key player for the squad. Verma has already played 74 international matches for India, scoring 2004 runs, including 12 fifties.
In fact, still 18, Verma holds the record for the most runs by any player before the age of 19 in women's T20Is. She is also the only women's player to play more than 50 T20Is before the age of 19.
With her experience at the top of the order, India's Under 19 T20 World Cup squad appears quite daunting. Verma's expertise in the format itself is an added bonus. With a strike-rate in the mid-130s, she is one of the most dangerous openers in women's T20Is already.
Notably, Verma will also be part of the senior team in the Women's T20 World Cup in the country straight after.
Expectations:
The Under 19 squad is already in good form, having whitewashed the New Zealand U19 squad in a five-match home series last month. This was without Verma or Richa Ghosh being part of the squad.
With the two big additions to the T20 World Cup squad, India are among the strongest teams in the competition. They have a relatively easier group with South Africa, Scotland and UAE in it.
India travelled to South Africa early, taking on the hosts in T20 series, starting with a convincing 54-run win. They went on to go unbeaten with three more victories, all in resounding fashion.
Shweta Sehrawat, who captained the team to a 5-0 series win over New Zealand in the absence of Verma, is the vice-captain and has previous captaincy experience too, having led one of the four teams in the Under 19 T20 Challenger Trophy in November.
Soumya Tiwari, G Trisha and Shikha Shalot alongside Sehrawat were the leading run-scorers in the Challenger Trophy and all of them make it to the squad.
Left-arm spinner spinner Sonam Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, who topped the wickets chart in the Challenger Trophy, is a quality addition in the bowling attack. Overall, India have good all-round strength in the squad, making them one of the favourites to win the title.
