India, the most successful team in the U-19 World Cups with four trophies, will start as favourites in the final of the current edition of the mega event for the colts on Saturday, but in England, they face an opposition who have the quality to surprise them.

Both India and England have had unbeaten runs in the tournament so far and have played impressive cricket.

While a win for Yash Dhull-led India will give them a record-extending fifth World Cup crown, if England, captained by Tom Prest, are victorious it will mean that they will be the holders of the ODI world title in both senior and U-19 cricket.

The final rivals are quite well-matched in various departments of the game, but one guesses that the Indian spinners will hold the key in the summit clash, which will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. Why? Because the Indian tweakers have so far claimed as many as 26 wickets in the tournament at an average of 12.34. And though the English team successfully dealt with the spin challenges from Bangladesh and Afghanistan earlier in the meet, they will be in for a stern test from the Vicky Ostwal-led Indian spin attack on Saturday.

Having said that, in Rehan Ahmed, England U-19 have a leg-spinner who has three four-wicket hauls to his credit in the tournament. They will also probably be looking to play left-arm spinner Fateh Singh on Saturday if the pitch promises some assist for the slower bowlers.

Bengal’s left-arm swing bowler Ravi Kumar has been quite effective for India and he has the knack of picking up early wickets and also getting the team important breakthroughs. England will bank on their own left-arm pace option, Joshua Boyden, who has picked up 13 wickets at an average of 9.53.

The Indian batsmen have performed strongly in all the matches so far, keeping their standard high even when they missed some of their key players owing to Covid-19.

Though Harnoor Singh has had a relatively quiet tournament, his opening partner Angkrish Raghuvanshi has proven himself to be an aggressive batsman. Captain Dhull and Shaik Rasheed have exhibited maturity in the middle order, while the lower middle order also has a few power-hitters.

Though India appear to be stronger on paper, they will do well to remember how Bangladesh shocked them in the final of the last edition of the World Cup. An overcautious approach may backfire against a strong English side.

Young Dhull has come across as a fine captain and with Virat Kohli, who was an U-19 World Cup-winning skipper in 2008, offering him tips on the eve of the big match, the Delhi boy and his team will surely be prepared for all tough tests.