Former India opener Aakash Chopra pointed out that fast bowling is one of India’s weak points after India U19 lost the ICC U19 World Cup final against Australia U19.

However, India’s best bowling performance came from a fast bowler, Raj Limbani, who took 3/38 in his 10 overs and was praised by Aakash Chopra for his performance. Australia U19 defeated the defending champions by 79 runs in the final to win the title.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first in the final and they managed 253/7 in their 50 overs and then tied with India for 174 to win the match by 79 runs. Mahli Beardman was the Player of the Match for his winning streak of 3/15 in seven overs which also included two maiden overs.

The 18-year-old bowler finished his tournament with 10 wickets in six games at an average of 10.50. This was the first time Australia defeated India in the U-19 World Cup final.

Aakash Chopra chose India’s disappointing pace of bowling as one of his obstacles. He elaborated, “Our fast bowling wasn’t that good. Raj Limbani did very well, but I found the fast bowling to be a bit weak. We were a little more focused on spin, but fast bowling was really needed on this Benoni pitch. “We didn’t attack enough with fast bowling.”

The reputed commentator opined that the seamers should have hit more with the new ball. “Yes, our fast bowlers got wickets, but you should have got at least three wickets from the opposition in the first 10 overs. Raj Limbani picked up a wicket. You should have got two more wickets if the fast bowling had been good from both ends.” stated Aakash Chopra.

Aakash Chopra sees short balls as another hurdle for India

The former India opener also talked about short balls being a problem for Indian batsmen as they are not prepared for it since their childhood. He talked about the Indians being 50-50 against short balls depending on conditions.

He said that when someone hasn’t played something since childhood and suddenly comes across it, it makes a difference in the game.

akash chopra He picked out the problems faced by Indian batsmen against the short ball as another obstacle. He explained, “A big learning we took away was that we are slightly 50-50 against the short ball. It all comes down to conditioning. When we haven’t played or learned something since childhood, suddenly when we encounter it, we’re not as prepared. It makes a difference”.

The former cricketer observed that the six-foot-tall Australian pacers made the ball bounce sharply. “The opposing team played four fast bowlers and all four were six feet tall and bowled bouncers regularly. Even if they were bowling alley-sized balls, they were close to the ears. His goalkeeper caught the ball over his shoulders.” he said.

India Captain Uday Saharan and batting all-rounder Musheer Khan ended up being the top two run-scorers of the tournament, while Saumy Pandey became the second highest wicket-taker with 18 wickets in seven games at an average of 10.28. Uday Saharan scored 397 runs in seven innings, while Musheer Khan scored 360 runs.