Australia opt to bat against India in final

Australia captain Hugh Weibgen called it right and elected to bat first in Benoni. Charlie Anderson came in for Tom Campbell for Australia. India were unchanged.

India and Australia will look to make an addition to their respective trophy cabinets with a win in today's U19 World Cup final. If India win, it will be a record sixth title for them reaffirming their status as a major force in junior Men's cricket. For Australia, it will be yet another major ICC trophy to their name after the recent success in the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023 and ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

The venue at Benoni had something for batters and bowlers alike so far in the tournament. It has featured five nerve-wracking thrillers, and one can expect the theme to continue in the final.

Uday Saharan's side hardly put a step wrong till their nail-biting clash against South Africa in the semi-final, which they won by a close margin of two wickets. Saharan, Musheer Khan, and Sachin Dhas have shown rich form with the bat, while Saumy Pandey, Raj Limbani, and Naman Tiwari are potent weapons with the ball. Their ground fielding has also been compelling.

The journey has been far from smooth for Australia, as showed in their one-wicket win over Pakistan in their semi-final. But each game has seen a new set of players standup and deliver for them. Harry Dixon, skipper Hugh Weibgen, Ryan Hicks, and Oliver Peake will be key with the bat, while Tom Straker, Callum Vidler, Charlie Anderson, and Mahli Beardman can be a handful with the ball.

In yesterday's press conference before the game, Weibgen had stated that the pitch seemed to have lost its grass-covering, and it would be interesting to see how it would behave.