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India captain Ayush Mhatre believes his side is improving with every performance at the ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup.
The five-time champions maintained their perfect record at this year's event with a clinical seven-wicket triumph over New Zealand in a rain-affected contest in Bulawayo on Saturday to ensure they took maximum points across to the Super Six phase of the tournament. India will face sterner tests during the Super Six stage, with matches against Zimbabwe (January 27) and Pakistan (February 1) awaiting, but Mhatre has been impressed with how his side has been able to adapt to the different challenges so far at the tournament and is confident in their ability to push for the title, as per the ICC website. "The whole tournament has been really nice, and the boys have really played well and shown the character that shows a strong attitude also," Mhatre said. "Because it was not easy for us also, because the rain was interrupting the game (against New Zealand), but credit goes to the boys that they held to the game plan and bowled really nicely. The boys are really mature enough to adapt to the (different) situations, and they have played more cricket like this. They are mature enough to take the situation and just go back to their basics," he added. India will also be boosted by the performance of Mhatre against New Zealand, with the captain top-scoring for the side with 53 after opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (40) had given the team a perfect start in their pursuit of 130 for victory. It was Mhatre's first innings of note at the Under-19 World Cup after failures of 19 and six against the USA and Bangladesh, and the right-hander admitted he has changed his approach in recent times to ensure he keeps it simple when at the crease. "Just watch the ball closely and just play as a merit of the ball. That was a simple plan," Mhatre admitted. (ANI)
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