01 February,2018 11:27 AM IST | Durban | PTI
India's Shubman Gill celebrates catching Pakistan's Hassan Khan with teammate Shivam Mavi during the U-19 World Cup semis in Christchurch on Tuesday
India captain Virat Kohli yesterday backed the national U-19 squad to win the World Cup final against Australia and said he will be closely tracking the title clash on Saturday.
"It feels amazing (to see them do well). I interacted with them before they left and it's a lovely bunch of boys. Compared to our lot (when India won in 2008 under Kohli), the confidence levels are somewhere else which is a great sign," said Kohli ahead of the first ODI against South Africa today. "You'll see many people making a strong statement for themselves much earlier than we all did. They've done amazingly well and the semi-final (against Pakistan) was an amazing game." Kohli said the boys look set to win a record fourth U-19 world title. "Playing such a high pressure game (against Pakistan), they really stood up and that's what you want to see. You want to see people standing up when it's needed the most. I want to wish them all the very best for the final.
Virat Kohli
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"We'll all be following very keenly and we'll be eagerly waiting to see them lift the cup again. I believe they have the talent, and they believe in that much more than I do, which I think is very, very important," he signed off.
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