The ongoing ICC U-19 was struck by a controversy when a Mumbai cricketer accused Nepal captain Raju Rijal of being overage. Mumbai Ranji player Kaustub Pawar made shocking allegations that the skipper of Nepal's U-19 team Rajal was 24-25 years old and had played with him in Mumbai's Under-15 level. The Mumbai batsman, who has played 127 first class matches also claimed that Rijal used to play in Mumbai by the name of Raju Sharma. "We played together in under 15 for Mumbai and now he is the captain of Nepal under 19 team and we others are 24-25 age respectively.
Hosts Bangladesh defeated a valiant Nepal by six wickets after a tense run-chase to storm into the semi-finals of the ICC under-19 World Cup on Friday, giving the nation its maiden appearance in the last four of a world event.
Qualifier Nepal caused the first major upset of the World Cup, shocking New Zealand by 32 runs in a Group D match in Fatullah on Thursday.
Having already assured a quarter-final berth, Indian team will be aiming to top their pool when they square off against a spirited Nepal in the final group league encounter of the ICC U-19 World Cup, on Monday. Rahul Dravid's boys have steamrolled their earlier opponents beating Ireland by 79 runs and New Zealand by a whopping 120-run margin. With Nepal also having qualified for the quarterfinals, tomorrow's match will decide which team will top Group D. The group champion will face either Namibia or Bangladesh in the quarter-final after defending champions South Africa crashed out on Sunday. On paper, an India versus Nepal cricketing contest should have been declared as a mismatch but the teenagers from the Himalayan nation have been the 'surprise package' of the tournament so far, defeating New Zealand and Ireland with minimum fuss.
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