India Under-19 captain Lakshya Raichandani admitted his side failed to put up a competitive total after Pakistan pulled off a remarkable three-wicket victory in their ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup Group A clash in Oman on Sunday. Despite Arjun Rajput’s fighting century, India could not capitalise on a promising recovery, allowing Pakistan to chase down 209 with 11 balls to spare.Pakistan were in serious trouble at 61/5 before Hamza Zahoor produced a match-winning unbeaten 100 off 108 deliveries. His composed knock, supported by Hasnain Abbas Dar’s valuable 38, turned the contest around and handed Pakistan their second consecutive victory in the tournament.Speaking after the match, Raichandani acknowledged that India were at least 20-30 runs below a competitive total and rued the lack of partnerships around Rajput’s innings.
‘We were 20-30 runs short’: Raichandani admits India’s batting failure
India, who elected to bat after winning the toss, suffered an early collapse and were reduced to 42/4. Rajput then took charge with a magnificent 107, keeping India’s innings together and helping them recover from a difficult position.However, the Indian captain felt the team could have added significantly more runs had another batter stayed with Rajput for longer.“Yeah, they weren’t enough. We were 20-30 runs short, but overall there were some good innings from Arjun and a good contribution from KP (Kavya Patel). It was a really good innings, and if someone had stayed there with him (Arjun), it could have been a little bit more total,” Raichandani said during the post-match presentation.India eventually folded for 208 in 46.3 overs, leaving their bowlers with a target that Pakistan managed to overhaul despite losing five wickets early in the chase.
Raichandani admits India could have bowled better
The India skipper also conceded that his bowlers missed opportunities to finish the job after putting Pakistan under considerable pressure. Pakistan were struggling at 61/5, but Zahoor and Dar combined to rebuild the innings and shift the momentum in their team’s favour. Raichandani felt India could have been more clinical during that phase.“Yeah, definitely. We will try to rectify it, and there was a lot of positive from this game. We will try to take that forward. There were some really good efforts. They were 60 for 5. We could have bowled a little bit better, but overall, it was really good,” he added.
