Babar Azam gives U19 squad a pat on the back for thrashing India in Asia Cup

Pakistan cricket squad captain Babar Azam showered praise on the country's under-19 cricket squad for thrashing India in the group stage of the Asian Cricket Council's (ACC) Under-19s Asia Cup.

Pakistan's young stars Muhammad Shehzad and Zeeshan Zameer's heroics led their team to a two wicket victory against the arch-rivals earlier on Saturday.

The Pakistan skipper took to Twitter to encourage the young cricketers to keep up their good work and continue to make the country proud.

Azam also prayed for Pakistan's under-19 team players to have grander successes in their cricket careers.

"Well done boys, keep performing like this and continue to make all of us proud. Praying for your more successes in cricket," Azam wrote.

Skipper Qasim Akram put India to bat after winning the toss and restricted the Men In Blue to 237 in the 50-over match at the ICC Academy Ground on Saturday.

Batting first, India gave Pakistan a 238-run target. Aaradhya Yadav smashed 50 runs off 83 balls and Harnoor Singh hit 46 runs, while Rajvardhan Hangargekar added 33 runs to the scoreboard.

Pakistani bowlers rose to the occasion, as Zameer took an amazing five-wicket haul in 10 overs, followed by Awais Ali, who picked up two scalps, while Maaz Sadaqat and Akram were able to take a wicket each.

When put to bat, Pakistan's Shehzad performed exceptionally well, hitting 82 runs off 105 balls, including four 4s and five 6s. Irfan Khan hit 33 runs off 50 balls before he was sent back to the pavilion.

The Indian bowlers kept the Pakistani batters under pressure, but it was not enough, as the Men In Green reached the target in 50 overs. Raj Bawa took four wickets, while Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravi Kumar, and Nishant Sindhu picked up a scalp each.

Playing XI

India

Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harnoor Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Yash Dhull (c), Nishant Sindhu, Raj Bawa, Aaradhya Yadav (wk), Kaushal Tambe, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Vicky Ostwal, Ravi Kumar

Pakistan

Abdul Wahid, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Shehzad, Haseebullah (wk), Qasim Akram (c), Irfan Khan, Rizwan Mehmood, Ahmad Khan, Ali Asfand, Zeeshan Zameer, Awais Ali