Shahid Afridi has a special message for India after U-19 victory

India outclassed Australia in the finals of the Under-19 World Cup today winning the trophy for the fourth time. Manjot Kalra smashed an unbeaten century as India crushed Australia by eight wickets in the finals. The southpaw was awarded ‘The Player of the Match’ for his top-notch innings under pressure. He also became the second Indian after Unmukt Chand to score a hundred in the U-19 World Cup final.

Earlier, Jonathan Merlo smashed an impressive 76 and looked good to take Australia to a decent total. However, his efforts fell short and the Aussies were blasted out at a paltry 216 runs in 48 overs. Moreover, India’s legendary cricketer Rahul Dravid finally got his hands on a World Cup trophy after his boys cruised past Australia’s total of 216. He missed out on winning a World Cup twice before in 2003 and 2007, and even in 2016 when his band of merry men came a few wickets short of victory against the West Indies.

Future stars in the making: Shahid Afridi

The U-19 boys never panicked chasing a meager total of 217 and seemed confident every step of the way. The young guns held onto their nerves and ensured that the total was chased down. Apart from Manjot Kalra, skipper Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill looked impressive scoring 29 and 31 runs respectively. However, they failed to capitalize on the start that they have got. It was India’s wicketkeeper, Harvik Desai who played the second fiddle to Manjot and ensured that India didn’t lose any wickets further. Desai scored 47 runs of the 71 deliveries that he faced playing a crucial role in the victory.

The Indian team and coach Rahul Dravid were flooded with greetings after this memorable victory. Many legendary cricketers took it to their social media handles to congratulate the team. Former Pakistani skipper, Shahid Afridi also congratulated the team on Twitter. He termed the U-19 team as exceptional and further congratulated coach and mentor Rahul Dravid. He said that these players are the future stars in the making for India. Indian fans were absolutely thrilled to see this tweet from Afridi, who indeed is a true gentleman of the game.

Here is what Afridi tweeted:

Congratulations India, exceptional U19 team, great coach and mentor in Rahul Dravid. Future stars in the making.

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) February 3, 2018