India will target a fourth title when Rahul Dravid's kids run into the West Indies in the ICC U-19 World Cup final on Sunday.
The India U-19 team will start as the favourites in the final, which will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, but the West Indies have shown, particularly in the knockouts, they are a force to reckon with.
Having suffered defeat in the opening match of the tournament to England, the West Indies have notched a string of victories, with the impressive ones coming against Pakistan in the quarterfinals and the previously unbeaten Bangladesh in the semis. With India being another team yet to suffer defeat in this ICC U-19 World Cup, West Indies are confident of causing another upset.
"In the semifinals we played Bangladesh, which had also not lost a match, and we won that game," West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer told ICC's official website. "So I don't think it matters what happened in the past.
"India are obviously a good team and we are excited about playing the final. It is a good feeling to have reached the final. We have come a long way in the last few months. We have turned into a very good unit. We have a very good bunch of cricketers with us. The journey has been good. We just need to keep it simple and play our best cricket in the final.
"We will give it our best shot. Win or lose, the players will benefit immensely by the experience of taking part in the tournament."
India, who have banked on the batting form of Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan, came into this tournament as one of the favourites, and after pretty much dominating every single team they have faced so far, that feeling has only increased. In the quarterfinals, India were dominant against Namibia, before comfortably seeing off the challenge of Sri Lanka in the last four.
"We are set for tomorrow," captain Ishan Kishan said. "There is obviously tension before every match and this is the World Cup final. We have reached our goal, now we need to achieve that goal.
"The West Indies too has been playing well. It will be a good game. We just need to follow our plans. We can't think too far ahead."
Where to Watch Live
India vs West Indies is scheduled for a 9 am local time (8.30 am IST, 3 am GMT, 10 pm ET) start with live TV coverage in India on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD1 and Star Sports HD3. Viewers in India and the rest of the subcontinent can also watch the ICC U-19 World Cup final live on Starsports online and Hotstar.
Viewers in the UK can watch the U-19 World Cup final live on Sky Sports 5, while India vs West Indies can also be live streamed on Sky Go. Willow TV will show the game live in the US and Canada, with the live stream option on Willow TV Online.
SuperSport6 will broadcast the match live in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, while the match can also be live streamed on SuperSport Live Video. Audience in the Middle East and North Africa can watch India U-19 vs West Indies U-19 live on OSN Sports 1, with the online live streaming option on OSN Sports Play.
