U-19 World Cup: Pacer Ravi wreaks havoc as India oust Bangladesh to enter semifinals
Coolidge (Antigua) (PTI): Left-arm pacer Ravi Kumar bowled a sensational opening spell as India's 'class of 2022' exacted a sweet revenge on Bangladesh, knocking out the defending champions by five wickets to enter the semifinals of the U-19 World Cup here.
In the last edition of the tournament, India lost to Bangladesh in the title clash.
Four-time champions India will meet Australia in their semifinal on February 2, having won an unprecedented seven out of their nine U-19 World Cup quarterfinals.
Son of a CRPF personnel, the Uttar Pradesh-born Ravi, who has followed in the footsteps of his illustrious state senior Mohammed Shami to ply his trade for Bengal, ended with excellent figures of 7-1-14-3 on a tacky track as Bangladesh were all out for 111 in 37.1 overs on Saturday.
Bangladesh were 56 for seven at one stage before SM Mehrob (30) and Ashiqur Zaman (16) added 50 runs for the eighth wicket to take the team past 100-run mark.
In reply, India chased down the target in 30.5 overs with opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi's 44 being the top score.
Skipper Yash Dhull made 20 not out and his deputy Shaik Rasheed contributed 26. The victory was even more satisfying considering the youngsters came back without any training post recovery from COVID-19.
It was a fitting reply from the 'Boys in Blue' to the 'Tiger Cubs' after their predecessors lost an ill-tempered final of the 2020 edition, which was followed by boorish behaviour from both sides, especially the Bangladeshis, whose reactions have always been over the top when it came to beating India.
For the current batch, the win was also necessary after they were beaten twice by this same side last year during a four-nation meet in Kolkata.
India won a good toss and Ravi made full use of the moisture underneath, with initial movement in the air helping the team's cause.
Ravi, who has the natural ability to bring the ball back into right-handers, had Mahfijul Islam (2) beaten all ends up with an inswinger in the second over.
His opening partner Iftakher Hossain (1) was done in by the slowness of the track as he tried to square cut and was held at point by vice-captain Shaikh Rasheed.
One drop batter Prantik Nawrose (7) was not at all comfortable during his stay and was late into the drive to a delivery that swung away, offering a catch to Kaushal Tamble in the slips.
Reeling at 14 for three in the eighth over, there was no coming back for Bangladesh and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal (9-1-25-2) was as consistent as ever, with his flight and dip causing problems for the opposition batters.
However, if anyone deserves the credit for restricting Bangladesh to a paltry total, it is Ravi, who till few months back, was another outstation cricketer plying his trade in Kolkata club cricket.
The 18-year-old had his share of twists and turns before he became the pace spearhead for India colts in the tournament.
From the officials in Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), it was learnt that the left-arm pacer, who played for Ballygunge United, had come for U-16 Bengal trials in 2019 but was rejected after he failed to clear the TW3 (Bone test for age verification) test.
However, a good CAB T20 league tournament for Kanchenjungha Warriors got him into the Bengal U-19 reckoning. Then, former India opener and national selector Devang Gandhi and assistant coach (bowling) Jayanta Ghosh Dastidar worked with him.
In fact, when the Vinoo Mankad (U-19) national one-day tournament was being held, the feeler from the local state association was to watch out for Ravi's pace bowling partner Debopratim Halder, who was considered a better prospect.
But the national selectors' attention was caught by Ravi, who was then inducted into the India U19 Challengers Squad.
"He is a very hardworking boy and if you ask me, Devang worked a lot on his mental aspect. Also his biggest asset is the ability to get the ball to swing in to the right handers.
"That is his stock delivery and he works that ball a lot in the nets," Ghosh Dastidar, who was a student of Dennis Lillee at the MRF Pace Foundation's first batch, alongside Javagal Srinath and Ashish Winston Zaidi, told PTI.
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Thousands protest in Washington DC against Trump ahead of inauguration
Washington: Thousands of people have gathered in Washington to protest against Donald Trump's policies ahead of his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States on January 20.
Trump, 78, succeeds Joe Biden, 82, on Tuesday as the new occupant of the White House. A coalition of nonprofit bodies, including Sakhi for South Asian Survivors, under the banner of People’s March, held the demonstration here to protest against the policies of Trump.
The People's March - previously known as the Women's March - has taken place every year since 2017.
Displaying anti-Trump posters and banner, the protestors raised slogans against the next President and also against some of his close supporters including Tesla owner Elon Musk.
The same group had also held a similar protest on January 2017, when Trump was inaugurated for the first time.
There were a series of three protests which started from three different parks and culminated near the Lincoln Memorial.
“Mass protest is one of the most effective ways to demonstrate to our communities that we are not obeying in advance or bowing to fascism, and invites them to do the same,” People’s March said.
The rallies coincide with Trump's arrival to the nation's capital for a series of weekend events in the lead-up to his swearing-in ceremony on Monday.
Amongst the coalition members are Abortion Action Now, Time to Act, SisterSong, Women’s March, Popular Democracy In Action, Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, The Feminist Front, NOW, Planned Parenthood, National Women’s Law Centre Action Fund, Sierra Club, and the Frontline.
Women’s March is anchoring the logistics of the mobilisation. Similar marches, though at a smaller scale, were also held in various other cities including New York, Seattle and Chicago.
“We really wanted to come to support women, equality, immigration, everything that really feels like we don't have much of a say in right now," Brittany Martinez, one of the protesters, told USA TODAY.
Law enforcement officials said protests and major events are being planned throughout the weekend ahead of the inauguration on Monday. The protestors condemned Trump’s policies and values. Many of them chanted, "Trans Lives Matter!", “Stand up, fight back!”, “Trust Black women!” and “We cannot be silent.”
