Moments after guiding India to a ninth ICC Under-19 World Cup final on Tuesday, skipper Uday Saharan credited his father and coach Sanjeev Saharan’s influence on his mature stroke play and learning to take the game as deep as possible.
In the first semifinal against South Africa on a bouncy track in Benoni, Uday walked in to bat after India had lost two quick wickets with just 10 runs on the board inside the powerplay and were further dented to 32 for 4 before the young right-hander held his nerves to lead the side’s recovery in the company of Sachin Dhas, who played a brilliant 95-ball 96.
The duo stitched together a match-winning 171-run fifth wicket stand before being separated with India still needing 42 off 47 balls. After Dhas’dismissal, things looked a bit tricky for a while, but Uday made sure to stay till the end to help his team cross the line, following in his father’s footsteps.
When the scores were tied at 244, Uday was dismissed in a bid to hit the winning runs for India. Uday, eventually ended up scoring a watchful 81, his third half century of the tournament besides a century against Nepal. Raj Limbani scored the winning runs with a boundary to keep India in the hunt for a sixth U-19 World Cup title.
“There was nothing going on in my mind. I had the belief in myself. My only thought was that I would play till the end. I knew it was a matter of one partnership and the match would be ours. So I was just telling myself again and again that I had to take it deep,” Saharan, who was named the Player of the Match, said.
Uday’s knock consisted of only six boundaries, which in comparison to his compatriots are far less in number. When asked about the restraint, he said he got it from his father, who also wanted to become a cricketer but could not.
“He also used to play in the same manner, taking it deep. So I tried to do the same. I knew I could play the big shots at the end if required. I knew as long as I was at the crease, the game was ours,” Uday said.
“When I walked in, the ball was seaming around. There was bounce as well. So I had to be conscious of that and could not play my shots freely. As the ball got older, it started coming onto the bat better. The odd ball was still bouncing but by then we were set and could handle it,” he explained.
Uday is happy to eventually find his team on the winning side, which means this is the ninth time India have made it to the final of an Under-19 World Cup. “It’s a great feeling winning the semi-final. Finally, there was a close game. In a way, it was good practice for us. I am happy that we have reached the final under my captaincy as well (laughs),” he said.
The India captain also surpassed his teammate Musheer Khan to become the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 389 runs.