India Under-19 captain Lakshya Raichandani admitted his side did not put enough runs on the board and fell short of a par score by 20-30 runs after Hamza Zahoor’s unbeaten century from number seven carried Pakistan to a three-wicket win in a Group A match of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in Muscat on Sunday. Electing to bat first after winning the toss, India were bowled out for 208 despite a sparkling 107 from Arjun Rajput, after being 42/4 at one point. Pakistan were in deep trouble at 61/5 before Zahoor’s 100 not out off 108 balls took them home with 11 balls to spare.
He also felt the bowling could have been a little better as well. “Yeah, definitely. We will try to rectify that, and there were a lot of positives from this game. And we will try to take them forward. Yeah, there were some really good efforts. We could have bowled a little bit better. But overall, it was really good,” added Raichandani. “Since I had to go all the way, my mindset was that I would stay till the end and win it. I will go till the last.”
They were 60 for 5.
Named Player of the Match, Zahoor said he had made up his mind to stay till the end.
I am not surprised by Hamza’s innings today. “Yes, exactly, but I’m not surprised about Hamza. I know the ability of the guy. Yes, we’re looking forward to the next match, not the semi-final.
But I really appreciate the way he assessed the conditions and played according to the situation. We will go with full intent in the next match, and then we will decide,” he said.
