Looking back at India's Under 19 World Cup finals

Indian teams' record in the Under 19 World Cup is impeccable. They are the most successful team in the tournament's history with four title wins and six final appearances. The current team made it four finals in a row by trouncing Australia by 96 runs after captain Yash Dhull led from the front with a run-a-ball 110. Many great careers took off from the World Cup and their performances in these finals set the benchmark for their successors.

Here's a recap of the finals India played in the previous editions:

2000

The third edition of the Under 19 World Cup in 1999-2000 was an indicator for India making big strides in terms of youth talent. The team led by Mohammad Kaif reached the final by thumping Australia by 170 runs in the semifinal. Prior to that, India began with a dominant win over Bangladesh, shared a point with minnows Netherlands and edged out New Zealand in their group games. In the Super League stage, they eased past Nepal, England, and Sri Lanka. They once against faced hosts Sri Lanka in the final whom they beat 41 runs, two games ago. 

After electing to bat, the Lankans were rattled by Shalabh Srivastava's left-arm pace who claimed 3-33 as they were bundled out for 178. Chasing a small total on a tricky Colombo pitch, Indian top-order relied on small partnerships in the top-order despite losing wickets regularly. However, it was the unbeaten 64-run partnership between Reetinder Sodhi (39 not out) and Niraj Patel (34 not out) that proved crucial as India reached the target in 40.4 overs and with six wickets in hand. Kaif also went on to play senior ODI World Cup final three years later, while his teammate Yuvraj Singh, went on to win the 2007 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup titles.

2006

After falling short twice at the semifinal phase, the Indian team, featuring future stars Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, and Cheteshwar Pujara, reached the final clash against arch-rivals Pakistan. The neighbors, led by Sarfaraz Ahmed, chose to bat first on a minefield of a pitch as Jadeja (3-16) alongside Piyush Chawla (4-8) skittled them out for 109.

However, the target proved too steep for India to lose both openers Gaurav Dhiman and Pujara for ducks. Pacer Anwar Ali dismantled the middle order with the wickets of Rohit, Mayank Tehlan, Debabrata Das, and Jadeja reducing India to 23/7. Chawla (25 not out) and keeper Pinal Shah (16) put up a late resistance by adding 39 runs for the eighth wicket, but Akhtar Ayub (3-9) cleaned up the tail as India folded out for 71 runs.

2008

India secured their second Youth World Cup title after Virat Kohli's men got the better of South Africa in a rain-affected final. South Africa's bowlers put up a stunning performance in the final to bowl India out for 159. Wayne Parnell's men had it in them to chase that down with the likes of JJ Smuts and Reeza Hendricks in the ranks but India's new-ball bowlers - Ajitesh Argal and Pradeep Sangwan - had other plans. Argal, the eventual man of the match of the encounter, had a bowling figure of 4-2-3-2, two of those runs coming in wides. 

South Africa needed just 99 more runs to win the game after the rain break but they got going after India's initial burst. The Saffers were folded up for 103 with Hendricks being the highest run-scorer. That he and Parnell scored 83 runs off the total 103 runs amongst each other tells you a story of its own. Virat Kohli celebrated with pomposity and a new chapter in Indian cricket was written after that.

2012

In the tiny Australian town of Townsville, India secured their third World title by getting the better of William Bosisto's boys in a pretty comforting manner. Bosisto waged a lone battle for the Aussies, as the side put up 225/8 in 50 Overs but that was not enough to threaten Unmukt Chand's men, especially with the kind of form that Chand was in. The Indian skipper piled on 111 runs followed by Smit Patel's unbeaten 62 as India chased down the total with 14 balls to spare. 

The Indian side had the likes of Sandeep Sharma, Baba Aparajith, Hanuma Vihari, and Prashant Chopra but unfortunately, none of them, barring Vihari, made sustainable progress in the Indian cricketing ecosystem. On the other hand, Australia's Cameron Bancroft, Kurtis Patterson, Travis Head, Ashton Turner, Joel Paris, and Gurinder Sandhu all represented the senior side later in their careers.

2016

India had a domineering campaign in 2016 but lost in the final against Windies, the only game that they lost in the competition in Mirpur. Led by Ishan Kishan, many names emerged such as Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Sarfraz Khan, Khaleel Ahmed - who further went on to represent India in the senior side while Avesh Khan is just a few games away from making his senior team debut. In the low-scoring final, Sarfaraz Khan was the only positive, scoring 51 off 89 balls, but powered by Keacy Carty's unbeaten half-century, the Windies side had a run-through. Barring Mayank Dagar, none of the bowlers had any impact as India had to return home with a lot of disappointment. 

2018 

India emerged victorious yet again, once again beating Australia, by eight wickets in the final. Jonathan Merlo and Jack Edwards had their share of contributions to guide the Aussies to 216 but the target was nothing in front of Manjot Kalra whose century landed right at the heart of Australia's campaign. In the tournament, India’s bowling stood out, with Anukul Roy taking 14 wickets at an average of 9.07 - the most for the side while Shubman Gill's 372 runs at 124 and SR of 112.38 made sure the side had a promising superstar for the future. The likes of Gill, Shaw, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ishan Porel, Arshdeep Singh, Anukul Roy stood out who later went on to become household names through IPL.

2020

In what was one of the biggest upsets yet a cherished story of 2020, Bangladesh secured their first World Cup win in any format when they beat India in the final by 3 wickets. Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal’s monumental run-scoring season (400 runs @ 133.3), India finished second best to Bangladesh in the tournament because none could stand up to the heroics of the Bangladesh bowlers led by Avishek Das and Shoriful Islam to fold out for 117. Bangladesh tracked down the revised total to ensure history is made. An entire country went up in jubilation and they were received as a hero in front of many.