Web Desk (National Times)- Pakistan skipper and national cricket team captain Babar Azam Saturday lauded Pakistan’s under-19 cricket squad on their performance that lead to a two-wicket victory against India in the group stage of the Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) Asia Cup.

Taking to Twitter, Azam advised the young cricketers to keep up their performance and continue to make the nation proud. The skipper also prayed for greater successes of Pakistan’s under-19 team players in their cricket careers.

“Well done boys, keep performing like this and continue to make all of us proud. Praying for your more successes in cricket,” Azam wrote.

Pakistan’s young stars Muhammad Shehzad and Zeeshan Zameer’s heroics led their team to victory against arch rivals India after skipper Qasim Akram put them to bat after winning the toss.

The Men In Blue were restricted to 237 in the 50-over match at the ICC Academy Ground on Saturday.

Batting first, India gave Pakistan a 238-run target. Aaradhya Yadav smashed 50 runs off 83 balls and Harnoor Singh hit 46 runs, while Rajvardhan Hangargekar added 33 runs to the scoreboard.

Pakistani bowlers rose to the occasion, as Zameer took an amazing five-wicket haul in 10 overs, followed by Awais Ali, who picked up two scalps, while Maaz Sadaqat and Akram were able to take a wicket each.

When put to bat, Pakistan’s Shehzad performed exceptionally well, hitting 82 runs off 105 balls, including four 4s and five 6s. Irfan Khan hit 33 runs off 50 balls before he was sent back to the pavilion.

The Indian bowlers kept the Pakistani batters under pressure, but it was not enough, as the Men In Green reached the target in 50 overs. Raj Bawa took four wickets, while Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravi Kumar, and Nishant Sindhu picked up a scalp each.

Playing XI
India

Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harnoor Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Yash Dhull (c), Nishant Sindhu, Raj Bawa, Aaradhya Yadav (wk), Kaushal Tambe, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Vicky Ostwal, Ravi Kumar

Pakistan

Abdul Wahid, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Shehzad, Haseebullah (wk), Qasim Akram (c), Irfan Khan, Rizwan Mehmood, Ahmad Khan, Ali Asfand, Zeeshan Zameer, Awais Ali