ICC U19 Men's CWC Final quotes

Player of the Match, Raj Bawa of India: “It always feels great to contribute for the team in any match, but in a final it is very special.

What do you prefer to bowl or bat?: “I like to do both!”

England captain, Tom Prest: said: “Obviously choosing to bat first, we would have liked a better start, but the way James Rew then batted to get is 95, I think he deserved 100 and then we got to a score that we felt were kind of in the game with and I think we gave that a good crack.

“We've got a strong bowling attack, and then taking a wicket in the first over, that kind of got the mood up and got some confidence going. They obviously batted really well, they had a couple of great partnerships, so credit to them.

What has the whole tournament been like? “It's been amazing. We've all really enjoyed it, not only the cricket, but the media exposure that we've got, doing kind of interviews like this. It's something that we'll never forget and we're very proud of our achievements in it.”

What has the support back home been like: “It's been incredible. Quite a few of our parents have actually come out and flown over to support but friends and family back home and different schools and everyone's just got behind us and it's been amazing.”

How has the cricket that you’ve come against been? “It's been amazing to test ourselves against the best players who are of our age. I think we've done ourselves proud and we've put in some great performances so I couldn't be prouder of the boys.”

VVS Laxman, Head of India’s National Cricket Academy: “I think huge congratulation to the selection committee, because it was a new selection committee and it was quite challenging for them to identify this group and after that I thought the coaching staff with Hrishikesh [Kantikar] as the head coach, SairaJ Bahutule and Munish Bali and all the support staff, I think the way they brought this group together, they worked really hard. They won the Asia Cup and the preparation to this World Cup was fantastic. But in the middle of this tournament, we all know what happened to the boys to test positive, but to show that kind of resilience and positive attitude was just exemplary.

Why has India been so successful at this level: “I think BCCI has to be complemented the number of matches. the number of tournaments, each age group level players get to play, whether it's under 16, whether it's under 19, under 23. But unfortunately, over the last two years, because of COVID. They didn't play any tournament and that's why I think this tournament win is very special.

How important is this win for the team? “It's important, but I think this is just a learning process, this is just a start of the journey and everyone in this group understands that, because this is all about their development as players as persons, and it's great to see the way they have developed, the way they've evolved over the last couple of months and so it's very exciting times for all of them, but it's just the start of the journey as a cricketer.”