Due to several players being found positive in the test of Covid-19, India faced the biggest league match in Group B of the Under-19 World Cup against Uganda on Saturday. The challenge will be the availability of all players. The Indian team has already ensured its place in the quarter-finals, but they would like to move into the next round by continuing their winning campaign with a big win.
Before the last match against Ireland, 6 of India's 17 players had to be isolated due to infection. India could barely field 11 players, but still, they made it to the quarter-finals after registering a 174-run win.
Willing to come back before the knockouts
Captain Yash Dhull and Vice-Captain Sheikh Rashid are among the 6 players who have tested positive and India would certainly want all these players to return before the knockout stage. It will be known which players will be available against Uganda only late on Friday evening. The match against Uganda, despite being a formal one, is important for India as players will be under mental stress due to Covid, and players who did not play in the previous match will want match practice before the knockouts.
If the 5 players awaiting Test reports become unavailable again, the team management will have to field the same playing XI that defeated Ireland. Openers Harnoor Singh and Angkrish Raghuvanshi have shown great form so far and they are expected to give the team a good run again but the middle order batsmen need to score runs at a better place. Uganda has not won a single match so far. They lost the first match to Ireland by 39 runs while South Africa defeated them by 121 runs.
