Team India U19 captain Yash Dhull said that after defeating England by six wickets and claiming India's fifth world cup title, he and the squad would celebrate the triumph with some ice creams.
"The ice cream has reached the rooms of every player," Dhull answered a reporter's question at the post-final press conference when asked about what food he and the boys would eat to celebrate the victory. "We will have and enjoy ice creams now. We had to maintain a strict diet for this tournament, so now we will enjoy some ice cream."
Team India received praises for the victory, especially all-rounder Raj Bawa. He recorded a World Cup best haul of five for 31m helping team India bowl out England for 189, after which he scored a 35.
"He is a bit different," said Dhull about his teammate. "While we have been enjoying ourselves, he has been focusing on his bowling in a big way, spending more time at training, speaking to the coaches, speaking to VVS (Laxman) sir. So the improvement showed. He has an important role as an all-rounder. His mindset is really good and he has full confidence in his game. Bawa takes the batter by surprise through his bouncers. He bowls it real quick.
Cricket to remain Dhull's priority
While realising that his life could change significantly following the victory, Delhi youngster Dhull said he wanted cricket to remain his priority.
"I want to play cricket only," said Dhull. "The focus will be only on the game, while the rest of the things will take care of themselves. I will take it match-by-match. Let's see what happens."
In acknowledgement of the victory, the Board of Control for Cricket in India rewarded the players with Rs 40 lakh each. Meanwhile, every support staff member will be given Rs 25 lakh. Dhull thanked his teammates and said he was proud of his squad's achievements.
"It's a big moment. It's all due to team effort, as backing the players is a sign of a good team," Dhull continued. "We kept moving ahead with a positive mindset. Besides, our quicks have been doing well for us since the Asia Cup. Ravi gave us a good start, and Raj Bawa was exceptional."
In addition to praising all-rounder Bawa, who took a five-for after running through team English's middle order, Dhull also praised the other members of the team, including his deputy Shaik Rasheed.
"Rasheed is my best friend. We have dinners together as well," said Dhull, who finished the tournament with 229 runs at an average of 76.33. "On the field, he used to keep giving me suggestions, and it helped me to have a free mind. It also gave me confidence that I was making the right decisions.
"When we were batting together in the final, we wanted to take it deep and then finish it with five-seven overs remaining."
Early in the tournaments, Dhull and Rasheed tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in them missing a couple of matches. Despite that fact, they still managed to lead team India to victory.
"There's the bio-bubble in the first place, and then some of the players were down with Covid-19. So that was a difficult phase," head coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar said.
"But they showed enough maturity to handle the situation and stayed calm and positive, which eventually benefited them."
