After thrashing Pakistan by a massive 203 runs, India are in the finals of this year’s U 19 World Cup finals where they will face Australia. India have done really well at this tournament, and won three titles already along with a couple of Runners Up trophies.

Let’s take a look at India’s journey in U19 World Cup finals.

2000 – India won by 6 wickets against Sri Lanka

This was the year where Yuvraj Singh won the player of the series, setting a platform for a great future. Sri Lanka posted a total of 178 with the help of a Jehan Mubarak half-century, and India chased it down without breaking a sweat. All the batsmen contributed, and India reached the total with 9.2 overs to spare.

2006 – Pakistan won by 38 runs against India

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wEHnrKbbDg

It was heartbreak for India in 2006, as the Ravikant Shukla led side folded meekly at 71 to Sarfraz Ahmed’s Pakistan, who had posted a target of 110. Anwar Ali’s five-for did the trick for the men in green. Among the notable players who played this final, Cheteshwar Pujara, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma stand out.

2008 – India won by 12 runs against South Africa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRKC6Xz95o0

This was the year of Virat Kohli. “We got out at 159. One time I thought that we’re going to lose the finals. Then we went into the field, and I just told everyone that this could be the match of your life. Forget everything, just give it your best shot. Whatever happens, just don’t regret that you didn’t give your best shot. So that was the kind of confidence the guys got, and before the rain came, we had them at 17 for 3. That was one time we thought that we actually could pull this off. Then we had the news from Australia that India won the CB Series. That gave us a lot of confidence because India had won there, so we were motivated to win here as well. And then, we just went in and it was like the match of my life,” Kohli said in an interview with Star Sports. 

2012 – India won by 6 wickets against Australia

It’s a little sad that no one from this World Cup winning team went on to become a notable player for India at the international level. India chased down the target of 226 with captain Unmukt chand scoring a sensational unbeaten 111.

2016 – West Indies won by 5 wickets against India

Again, it was heartbreak for India as their batsmen were able to post a paltry target of 146. In response, West Indies played really slowly and reached the target with only three balls to spare. Not many players from this Indian team either went on to achieve great things on the international stage or even the IPL. Washington Sundar and Rishabh Pant are probably the only two youngsters who have bagged the senior Indian team’s jersey.