Ulva stuns Pakistan and takes India to 9th U-19 Asia Cup win

But before Mohit Ulva’s heroics, it was Manal Chauhan whose buoyant batting brought the Indian chase back from the dead.

At 252/8, chasing Pakistan's 337/9, it looked as if the writing was on the wall for India in the final of the Under-19 Asia Cup. But there are days when sport spectacularly tears up the prepared script. And that is exactly what happened on a glorious Saturday at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Oman.

Mohit Ulva celebrates India's win as he holds the Tricolour aloft! (BCCI)

The kids will remember this. But so will everyone who watched it. When No. 10 batter Mohit Ulva joined Manal Chauhan (47 off 32 balls) at the crease, India needed a miracle and they found it. The duo added 57 off 35 balls for the ninth wicket -- playing shots laced with the audacity and bravado of youth.

When the partnership ended with India at 309, significant pressure remained on India. But Ulva didn't care about that. Instead, he chose to believe.

"I just had belief in myself. I had belief in God," he said after the match. "The Asia Cup hadn't been that great for me as a bowler. But I believe in me that I am an allrounder. But till now I didn't get the opportunity to prove it.

"But I had belief in myself that I would do it. I needed Manal [Chauhan]'s support, the way he went and set the momentum before me. I just had to go and deliver."

Ulva's unbeaten 49 off 26 balls secured India a famous one-wicket win in a last-ball thriller.

Against a team that had beaten them earlier in the tournament, India looked down and out for large parts of their chase but none of that matters now.

Ulva had hit a few impressive shots in his stand with Chauhan but the match looked as good as over as No.11 Chigurupati Venkata joined him. With No. 10 and No. 11 in the middle, quick runs were needed.

That's when Ulva served up a googly only seen at the youth level. By the time players reach the senior level, they are usually sorted as batters or bowlers. But at the youth level, everyone tries their hand at everything. So, Ulva the allrounder came to the party.

Ulva hit a six (over long-on) and a four (through the covers) in the penultimate over bowled by Mohammad Sayyam. Venkata also picked up a fortuitous four via an outside edge off the last ball. Seventeen runs from the over and now India needed 8 to win off six balls.

In light of Niqab Shafiq's 47th over that had seen him concede just five runs with the prized wicket of Chauhan, Pakistan asked leg spinner Ahmed Hussain to bowl the last over. And he did a fantastic job, conceding just four runs off his first four deliveries.

Off the penultimate delivery, Venkata took a single to bring Ulva back to strike, and now India needed three to win off one ball.

It was a short ball fairly outside the off-stump but Ulva, looking possessed, saw it early and stepped out to give it a nice whack. The long-on fielder ran to his left and was comprehensively beaten as India won their ninth Asia Cup. Their last triumph had come in 2021.

Extraordinary celebrations followed as the Indian players in the dugout sprinted towards Ulva and Venkata to hug them and celebrate the unbelievable triumph.

Ulva, the Gujarat-born player, who bowls medium pace and returned 0/57 earlier in the match, was chosen as the Player of the Match.

Aaryavir Sehwag was impressive at the top

While Ulva and Chauhan orchestrated India's win, some of the credit also goes to India's top order led by Aaryavir Sehwag, who made a lovely 58 off 61 balls. He was struck by a ball on his right arm early in his innings, but he batted on bravely.

Sehwag and skipper Raichandani added 95 for the opening stand. After Sehwag fell, Raichandani and VK Vineeth got up a 51-run stand to keep their team in the hunt.

Vineeth's wicket for 24, however, triggered a massive downward slide for India. Arjun Rajput (16), centurion against Pakistan earlier in the tournament, Yashbardhan Chauhan (9), Raichandani (80) and Anvay Dravid (19) fell in quick succession to leave the team reeling at 217/6 in 36.3 overs. But who knew that the match truly began then.

Earlier, Pakistan, tipped as favourites to win in the lead-up, won the toss and decided to bat on a pitch that seemed to have plenty of runs. Opener Usman Khan (107) scored his second century of the tournament as he built good partnerships with fellow opener Hayam Khan (21), Abdul Qadir (80) and captain Farhan Yousaf (63).

When Usman fell, with Pakistan nicely placed at 240 in 36.3 overs, a much bigger score was on the cards than their eventual 337. Patel (4/68) and Venkata (3/40), however, shared five wickets between them in the last six overs to rein in Pakistan to a significant extent.

A lower-order collapse kept them 15-20 runs short, to all intents and purposes. It gave India that little bit of hope and perhaps that, along with some magic, eventually helped them win the day.