FTX By The Numbers: Dominant displays and broken records, the key stats from U19CWC

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No team comes close to India’s dominance at ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cups.

With their four-wicket win in the final against England at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, India lifted the U19 World Cup trophy for a record fifth time. The previous four victories came in 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018.

The 2022 champions also extended their lead for U19 CWC silverware to five, with Australia still the next best on three titles despite not claiming a trophy since 2010.

India also played in their fourth consecutive U19 World Cup final, and progressed unbeaten through the 2022 tournament, defeating South Africa, Ireland and Uganda in the group stage, then Bangladesh in the quarter-final, Australia in the semis and England in the final.

In the last 10 years, India have won 32 of 36 matches in U19 World Cups to build an imposing winning percentage of 88.89, easily the best record of any team.

The victory over England also stretched India’s winning-streak to nine games in U19 ODIs – six in the World Cup and three in the Asia Cup two months ago.

U19 Cricket World Cup titles

India captain Yash Dhull was a key figure behind the team’s success in the tournament. The 19-year-old scored 82 against South Africa in the group game and 110 against Australia in the semi-final, on the way to finishing the tournament with 229 runs at an average of 76.33 – the highest of India’s batters.

Dhull is now one of 14 captains to lead their team to an U19 World Cup title. Ten of the previous 13 winning captains have gone on to play international cricket at a senior level in Tests, ODIs or T20Is. If history – let alone his recent performances – are any guide, it is just a matter of time before Dhull will make it 11 of 14 saluting skippers to be selected for senior international duty.

Geoff Parker, Unmukt Chand and Akbar Ali are the winning captains that have not stepped up to senior international cricket. Chand (28 years) and Akbar (20) still have age on their side to be a realistic chance of being called up to play international cricket, although in Chand's case that appearance might come for the USA, the player having moved to the States in the hope of progressing his playing career.

Winning captains in U19 Cricket World Cups

Bawa and Brevis were two emerging stars to impress across the tournament.

India’s Raj Bawa took 5/31 against England – the best bowling figures in an U19 Cricket World Cup final – and was named the Player of the Match for his heroics. He bettered Anwar Ali’s 5/35 for Pakistan in the 2006 final against India in Colombo.

Earlier in the tournament, Bawa also scored 162 not out against Uganda, the highest individual score for an India batter in the tournament history and the highest by anyone this year.

The 19-year-old all-rounder comes from a sporting family. His father Sukhwinder Bawa was coach of Cricket World Cup and U19 World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh, while his grandfather Tarlochan Singh Bawa won a gold medal in hockey at the 1948 Olympic Game in London.

Dewald Brevis created his own stunning records during the tournament in the West Indies. By amassing a total of 506 runs, Brevis broke the 18-year-old record of India’s Shikhar Dhawan (505) for most runs in one edition of the U19 World Cup. Dhawan’s total runs record had stood since the 2004 tournament in Bangladesh.

Brevis’ record-breaking total was boosted by his 18 sixes, the most by a batter in a single edition. His big-hitting heroics surpassed the tally of England’s Jack Burnham who hit 15 maximums in the 2016 U19 CWC in Bangladesh.

Brevis wasn’t the only batter to regularly clear the ropes. The tournament witnessed a record 338 sixes, which was 94 more than the previous record – 244 in Bangladesh in 2016.

The biggest contribution came from South Africa batters who hit 52 maximums in the tournament followed by Afghanistan (39) and India (32). There were only two teams that failed to reach double figures for sixes – Scotland (7) and PNG (4).

In many ways, this was a better tournament for batters than previous editions. For only the second time, 20 centuries were recorded in one edition of an U19 Cricket World Cup, though the total was fewer than the 25 hundreds scored at the 2018 tournament in New Zealand.

Most sixes in U19 Cricket World Cup

While batters were hitting centuries and sixes, several bowlers created their own records.

Raj Bawa’s five wickets in the final took the total number of five-fors across the tournament to 12, the most in an edition of the U19 Cricket World Cup. The previous record was 11 five-wicket hauls, recorded in the 2020 tournament in South Africa.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka bowlers accounted for three five-fors each, the joint-most in the tournament.

Sri Lanka captain Dunith Wellalage was the only bowler with two five-fors, with his teammate Vinuja Ranpul also claiming five wickets in an innings.

The three five-fors among the Pakistan team were shared between Awais Ali, Muhammad Shehzad and Qasim Akram.

Pakistan captain Qasim Akram created his own piece of history in the fifth-place playoff match against Sri Lanka when he scored 135 not out off 80 balls then followed up with five wickets for 37 runs. In doing so, he became the first player in the history of U19 ODIs to score 100 runs and grab five wickets in the same match.

Qasim was playing in his second U19 World Cup after also featuring in the 2020 tournament. He arrived in the West Indies on the back of some strong experience, as the all-rounder from Lahore was the only player in the tournament to have played nine first-class matches.

Bangladesh couldn’t defend the title and finished in eighth this time but their players put up a disciplined show. They were the only team in the tournament to not concede a free hit or a bye.

They bowled 244 overs without anyone overstepping or making a mistake that would result in a free-hit. Their 'keeper Mohammad Fahim was also clean behind the stumps and went through the tournament without leaking a bye.

PNG’s Peter Karoho was another keeper that did not concede any runs from byes. However, the PNG bowlers delivered five no-balls and their team ultimately earned the wooden spoon for finishing the tournament in 16th, although the World Cup experience will provide invaluable for their players.