Bangladesh’s campaign in the U-19 Asia Cup 2021 came to an end when they lost to India by 103 runs on Thursday at Sharjah in the UAE. 
 
India batted first after losing the toss and had posted 243.  
 
In reply, Bangladesh tumbled for 140 all wickets in 38.2 overs and suffered a heart breaking defeat.
 
To chase down a challenging total, Bangladesh needed to have a good start. But they failed to do that as they lost four wickets inside 50 runs. In the opening stand, Mahfijul Islam and Tahjibul Islam added 31 runs. The Junior Tigers failed to come out of the early jolt. 
 
While going to 50 from 40, Bangladesh lost three more wickets— which eventually pushed the junior Tigers to the back foot. They never were able to come back strongly and offer India any real trouble. 
 
Mahfijul scored 26, but his opening partner Tahjibul scored only three. Number three Prantik Nowrose Nabil, who has a century in this Asia Cup, failed to do well as he returned only 12 runs off eight balls with three fours. 
 
Aich Mollah, who is considered the best batter of this team, suffered a duck off nine balls. 
 
Ariful Islam fought alone scoring 42 off 75 balls with a four while captain Rakibul Hasan scored 16 off 32 balls with a six. But their efforts went in vain due to the failure of the top-order batters. 
 
For India Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravi Kumar, Raj Bawa, and Vicky Ostwal scalped two wickets each. 
 
Earlier, India posted a challenging total of 243 for eight in 50 overs riding on the superb batting effort by Shaik Rasheed. 
 
Shaik scored 90 off 108 balls with three fours and one six. When India kept losing at one end of the wicket, Shaik was firm at another end and kept the scoreboard moving for the team. He remained unbeaten. 
 
Along with Shaik, Vicky Ostwal also did well scoring 28 off just 18 balls with three fours. Apart from them, captain Yash Dhull and Raj Bawa also helped India post a big total amassing 26 and 23 runs respectively. 
 
For Bangladesh, captain Rakibul Hasan bagged three wickets conceding 41 runs in 10 overs while Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Naimur Rohman, SM Meherob and Ariful Islam scalped one wicket each. 

In the other semifinal of the event, Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 22 runs at Dubai. Sri Lanka will now face India in the final which is set to be played on December 31 at Dubai.
 
Bangladesh will travel to the West Indies to take part in the ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup, which will begin on January 15, as the defending champions.
 
In the last edition of the biggest cricketing event at the junior level, Bangladesh beat India in 2020 to win their maiden title. In the World Cup group phase Bangladesh will take on Canada, England and UAE.