India will look for three more wins to clinch the title as the ICC U-19 World Cup enters the quarterfinal stage, starting Friday.
Eight teams gave earned the right to play in the knockout stage of the tournament, after doing the needful in the group phase. India were one of the most impressive teams in those group stages, and they will certainly fancy their chances of beating Namibia U-19 in the quarterfinal, which will take place on Saturday.
Before that, though, the hosts Bangladesh will play Nepal in an all-South Asian quarterfinal, with the former, no doubt, confident of making it to the semifinals. Nepal, apart from that controversy over the age of their captain Raju Rijal, have also done splendidly well to make it to the quarterfinals, and they will certainly go into this knockout match without any fear.
The key for Nepal will be putting that controversy, where Rijal's age was brought into question, behind them and just concentrating on beating the talented Bangladesh side, who will have home support to bank on as well.
"The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that following queries raised about the eligibility of Nepal captain Raju Rijal, it has looked into the matter and is satisfied that the player is eligible to play in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016," the ICC said in a statement regarding Rijal's situation.
"The ICC has spoken with the Chief Executive of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), concerned player and the Nepal Team Manager, and has again reviewed the documents which were submitted by the CAN before the start of the competition. These documents include copies of his passport and birth certificate, which were issued by the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, as well as a signed age determination declaration.
"As such, the ICC has no evidence to suggest that the passport and birth certificate, issued by the Nepalese government/authorities, are not genuine or that the statement provided by the player is false. Unless any new information comes to light, the ICC considers this matter closed."
Once the Bangladesh vs Nepal quarterfinal is done, India will be in the spotlight, when they play Namibia on Saturday. The Rahul Dravid coached team did exceedingly well in the group stages, and barring a spectacular collapse, there only looks like being one winner in this contest, despite Namibia's impressive win over South Africa earlier in this U-19 World Cup.
The winner of the India vs Namibia match will play the victors of the third quarterfinal between England and Sri Lanka. This is a match that could go either way, and if India make it through to the semifinals, they will have a job on their hands to topple one of these teams.
The final quarterfinal is Pakistan vs West Indies. Pakistan topped their group and will start the favourites, with West Indies only scraping through to the last right at the expense of Zimbabwe courtesy a controversial "Mankad" dismissal in the deciding match.
West Indies, like their senior counterparts, have the penchant to blow hot and cold, but they will need to stay on the warmer side if they are to beat Pakistan.
ICC U-19 World Cup quarterfinals schedule: Quarterfinal 1: Bangladesh vs Nepal.
Date: Friday, 5 February.
Time: 9 am local time, 8.30 am IST, 3 am GMT.
Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Quarterfinal 2: India vs Namibia.
Date: Saturday, 6 February.
Time: 9 am local time, 8.30 am IST, 3 am GMT.
Venue: Khan Saheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah.
Quarterfinal 3: England vs Sri Lanka.
Date: Sunday, 7 February.
Time: 9 am local time, 8.30 am IST, 3 am GMT.
Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Quarterfinal 4: Pakistan vs West Indies.
Date: Monday, 8 February.
Time: 9 am local time, 8.30 am IST, 3 am GMT.
Venue: Khan Saheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah.
