India under-19 captain Yash Dhull says it was a conscious decision to steady the ship by batting till the 40th over alongside Shaik Rasheed without taking much risk, which helped them notch a 96-run victory against Australia in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Off to a shaky start after opting to bat, India were struggling at 37 for 2 when Dhull walked in at No 4.
The skipper struck a sublime run-a-ball 110 and stitched a game-changing 204-run partnership with his deputy Rasheed (94 off 108 balls) to help India post a formidable 290 for five.
The target ended up being too steep for Australia as they were the bowled out for 194 in 41.5 overs. With the 96-run victory, the four-time champions cruised to their fourth consecutive final.
"The plan from me and Rasheed was to bat till the end, and it worked. The idea was to bat steadily, not to try too many shots, and to bat past the 40th over," Dhull said at the post match presentation.
Dhull and Rashid were eventually dismissed off successive balls in the 46th over.
"Myself and Rasheed bat well together, we combine well and it showed. Rasheed and me had a good partnership and we had good partnerships lower down as well," he added.
The captain was lavish in his praise for the team and specially Rashid, who along with Dhull and a few others had contracted COVID-19 during the group stages of the tournament.
"The way in which the boys are playing is good. Rasheed is mentally very strong. We were in the bubble together and he is always mentally prepared."
With his 110-run knock, Dhull became the third Indian captain to score a Under-19 World Cup century after former India skipper Virat Kohli and Unmukt Chand and the youngster described it as "a proud moment".
Australia Under-19 skipper Cooper Connolly felt the game went away from them in the last 10 overs when India scored over a 100 runs to post an intimidating total.
"Going into the last 10, we thought we were in a good position, but they scored 100 and thus 290 was a bridge too far.
"The experience was good but the only problem was the bubble. The way we played spin was good and we just got better with every session. There's a lot of positives. We adapted well to conditions pretty quickly, every session got better," Conolly said.
