Osbourn: India’s U-19 World Cup captain Yash Dhull, who stood out with his heroics in the semi-final against Australia didn’t just earn the team a spot in the final, he also made a huge record by scoring a century and joining his seniors Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand in an elite list after India thrashed Australia by 96 runs in the blockbuster semifinal of the ICC U-19 Men’s World Cup 2022 on Wednesday.
He joined the elite club after scoring 110 runs in as many balls to help India post a mammoth total of 290 runs and to become only the third Indian captain to hit a century in the tournament’s history after illustrious Kohli’s 100 in 2008 (vs West Indies) and Chand’s 111 not out (vs Australia) four years later.
The 19-year-old, who was born and brought up in Delhi, Janakpuri and has led India in different age-group teams, including the Under 16s and Under 19s. It was at the age of 11 that Dhull, the batsman took the professional approach towards his development as a cricketer.
Dhull was a member of the Delhi side that competed in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy earlier last year. Where Dhull emerged as the highest run-scorer. He scored a total of 302 runs in 5 matches for the Delhi state team, averaging 75.50. Like Virat Kohli, Yash Dhull has the potential to become a better captain in the future because of his captaincy ability.
Dhull has a good amount of captaincy experience in his bag as he had led Delhi’s U-16, U-19, and India ‘A’ U-19 teams in past. He also led the India U19 team at the ACC U19 Asia Cup in 2021 and later he was given charge of the India U-19 team for the ongoing World Cup.
It is a wonderful coincidence that the two captains who did this feat before Yash are also from Delhi, India. Kohli achieved this feat against West Indies in 2008 World Cup, which took place in Malaysia. After this, in the 2012 World Cup Unmukt scored a century against Australia at Townsville. “It’s a proud moment to be the third Indian captain to score a U-19 World Cup ton after Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand,” Dhull said after the win.
As far as the U-19 World Cup is concerned, India will next lock horns against England in the final which is scheduled to be played on February 5 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. While India will look to script history in the final by becoming the first team to win five U-19 World Cup titles, England will be under immense pressure to lift its second trophy at the home.
