India in prestige clash with Bangladesh

Indian colts are up against a confident Bangladesh, who have improved by leaps and bound, when the two neighbouring countries clash in the final of the Under-17 Asia Cup cricket tournament in Dhaka on Saturday.

Coach Roger Binny will have the tough task of guiding his pack of yougsters against the hosts, who have been attracting vociferous crowds during all their matches.

The Mohanty brothers - Rakesh and Bignesh - have come good with the bowling as also all-rounder Stuart Binny, who impressed both with the bat and ball.

The trio played a vital role in India's semifinal win over Pakistan on Thursday when they dismissed their arch-rivals for 114 in 36.4 overs after having made 191/7 in the allotted 45 overs.

While the senior players of India and Pakistan are being prevented from playing against each other, the youngsters had an interesting match in the semifinal, providing a good feast for the spectators.

Bangladesh on the other hand, rode on their luck and the tremendous crowd support to beat a formidable Sri Lanka to make it to the final.

India's captain Manvinder Bisla did not play in the semifinal, but his deputy Parthiv Patel did the job well and every batsman contributed after the team was put in to bat first.

Ten teams - Bangladesh, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, United Arab Emirates - competed in the tournament.

The teams (from):

India: Manvinder Bisla (capt), Parthiv Patel (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Kuldeep Rawat, Sachin Dholpure, Mohnish Mishra, Deepak Chougule, Stuart Binny, Gaurav Gupta, G Shankarrao, Rakesh Mohanty, Bignesh Mohanty, Devendra Singh Jr and Nikhil Rathod.

Bangladesh: M Zunaed Siddique, Mohammed Ashraful, K Hasibul Islam, Talha Jubaer, K Manzarul Islam, M Bin Mortaza, M Murad Khan, M Nafees Iqbal, Shafaq Al Zabir, Shafiul Alam, Mohammed Sharif, ATM Shariful, M Arif Hossain.