“Don't Pakistan want to qualify for the semi-final?” - Pakistan slammed for not even trying to secure a bigger goal in U19 World Cup vs India

In the ICC Under-19 World Cup on Sunday in Bulawayo, India defeated Pakistan by 58 runs. India scored a difficult 252 in 49.5 overs when batting first. The Pakistan U-19 squad was dismissed at 194 in 46.2 overs in response. India's best player in the game was Vedant Trivedi, who amassed 68 runs. The Ayush Mhatre-led team advanced to the tournament's semi-final with the victory. They will meet Afghanistan in SF on February 4, 2026.

As India easily defeated bitter rivals Pakistan by 58 runs in a Super Six match to go to the ICC U-19 World Cup semifinal in Bulawayo on Sunday, young Kanishk Chouhan demonstrated his versatility.

However, Pakistan needed to score 253 in 33.3 overs in order to advance to the semi-finals due to their superior run-rate. However, their batsmen didn't appear interested in making a match, as they managed 167 for 4 in 33.3 overs before being bowled out for 194 in 46.2 overs. 

"Very strange. Don't Pakistan want to qualify for the semi-final? Are they settling for the lesser goal of trying to win a group stage game (unless they see that as a higher goal!!) over trying to win the tournament?" Bhogle posted on his official X account.

When their innings reached 33.3 overs, Pakistan had reached 167/4 and were almost 90 runs behind the objective. What was more unusual was that Pakistan had wickets in hand but never appeared to go all out to attempt to attain the target within the required overs.

In the end, Pakistan was unable to reach the mark of 252 in total, highlighting India's outstanding bowling performance. After Henil Patel's off-cutter eliminated Pakistan's Asia Cup hero Sameer Minhas, the remaining batters oddly adopted a defensive stance. Left-arm spinner Khilan Patel (3/35 in 9.2 overs) and captain Ayush Mhatre (3/231 in 8 overs) both used pitch-assisting spinners to stifle the run flow during the middle overs.

India will meet Afghanistan in the semifinal while England and Australia will play in the other last-four encounter.

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