Under 19 Asia Cup final serves pointers to future for Pakistan and India

Paul Radley looks at the finalists and how the teams stack up in some key areas where the senior national sides are concerned.

While batting collapses remain the concern for Pakistan, India had not much to celebrate in their group clash. Satish Kumar / The National

Pakistan is barren when it comes to top-class opening batsmen and spin bowling is a dying art in India, right?

Not so, if the Under 19 Asia Cup in the UAE is anything to judge by.

Will the prevailing stereotypes about the game in the neighbouring countries survive to the next generation?

Admittedly, the four matches each side have played so far are a small sample size upon which to base a decisive verdict on the future of cricket in the two countries.

But ahead of today’s final between India and Pakistan, the matches have at least provided a window into what is unfolding on the rung before senior level on the subcontinent.

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Perception Pakistani openers are so useless they cannot bat their eyelids.

Verdict Strongly untrue.

Pakistan have found a gem in the form of their age-group captain, Sami Aslam.

He has the talent, but that is not really the issue. Pakistan have never wanted for gifted ball-strikers at the top of the order, but what they have craved is someone with the practical intelligence for heavy-scoring and the courage to handle pressure.

On the evidence shown here, he has both in swathes. He has been so prolific that when he fell for 75 against Afghanistan in Thursday’s semi-final, it felt like a failure.

Plus, it is not as though he is just a flat-track bully. He missed out against the UAE, but then bounced back with a hundred against India.

Over the course of two Asia Cup tournaments, Aslam has thrice played India and scored a century each time.

“It is a pressure game when we play against India and it is good for me to handle it and take the responsibility for my team,” he said after Tuesday’s effort.

If India get him early today, expect the celebrations to be similar to when they won the World Cup itself.

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Perception Pakistan are prone to spectacular batting collapses.

Verdict True.

Pakistan are undefeated in 18 games at this level. Somehow.

They have tried to throw that record away twice this week with the sort of meltdown for which their senior national team have so long been synonymous, only to eventually crawl across the line by two wickets.

Against India on Tuesday, it was perhaps understandable, given how much rides on every match between these two. Against emerging Afghanistan on Thursday, it was less so.

The Sharjah batting collapse may be ingrained in Pakistan cricket – witness the capitulation of the seniors against South Africa in November, for instance.

Ahead of February’s World Cup, it is not a serious concern for the U19 side, according to Ali Zia, the team manager.

“This hasn’t been a worry for us and I don’t know from where it has crept up,” Zia said.

“I’m surprised what happened, from such an easy position we should have won both games by at least six wickets.

“These are worrying signs, to have the middle order collapse for no reason under no pressure, but the management will work hard to find the reasons.”

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Perception Like Sachin Tendulkar before him, MS Dhoni is irreplaceable.

Verdict Untrue.

Indian wicketkeepers of the current era are afflicted by what could be termed the MacGill Complex.

Stuart MacGill took over 200 Test wickets for Australia, as part of arguably the best side ever to play the sport.

Yet his career was entirely annexed. He is That Other Guy, the one who had the misfortune to overlap with the game’s greatest, Shane Warne.

And no matter how good Indian wicketkeepers are at present, they have never been able to knock the incumbent, Dhoni, off his perch. Not for any length of time, anyway.

Take Dinesh Karthik or Parthiv Patel as examples. Each might have been international cricketers of great repute by now, rather than modest, bit-part players, had they not been born within three years of Dhoni.

The next generation may have better luck, though, in particular the excellent U19 gloveman, Ankush Bains, whose batting has especially caught the eye here.

He makes beautiful straight lines with the bat, can open the innings or play in the middle order, and he has guts. He returned after retiring injured to marshal India through a nervy run-chase in their semi-final win over Sri Lanka.

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Perception Where once spin was king, India now rely on pace aces.

Verdict Untrue.

It is false for a couple of reasons. Firstly, India’s pace bowlers have toiled here and found incisions tough to come by.

Not that these are the easiest conditions for them. For example, against the excellence of Aslam, the premier batsman in the competition, they had all the cutting edge of wet cardboard.

And secondly, they have a decent stock of spinners, particularly the unorthodox spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav. Wrist-spin does not traditionally flourish on the low, flat pitches of the UAE, especially not in 50-over cricket, but two purveyors of the art have thrived in this Asia Cup.

Although not perhaps to quite the spectacular extent Karamat Ali has managed with his leg-spin for Pakistan, Yadav has excelled here.

He has taken 14 wickets in four matches, putting him second behind Karamat in the wicket-taking charts, and at less than 13 runs apiece.

Early days of course, but the 19-year-old spinner could have the tools to complement Ravi Ashwin on India’s senior team.

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