They bat first, bat long, and get hundreds

India have batted first in every game of the World Cup so far, and only once after winning the toss. They would have bowled had they won the toss in their opening game against Bangladesh when conditions were at their most challenging for batting in Bloemfontein, but after what was their stiffest test, they mastered a template to 50-over batting, which no other team has with such consistency.

Four of India’s batters account for five of the tournament’s 11 individual hundreds, and they are the only team to score 250 or more in each game. They start steadily with an average first powerplay score of 47, build through the middle, and launch with wickets in hand in the last ten over. Only once have they lost more than three wickets going into the final ten overs. They have also never been bowled out.

Musheer Khan and captain Uday Saharan are the two highest run-getters of the tournament and have scored 642 runs between them at a strike rate of 92.9 with three hundreds and as many fifties.

Junior Jadeja – India’s biggest threat with the ball

Saumy Pandey, India’s vice-captain, has been the standout bowler for India with 16 wickets in five matches at a stunning average of 6.62 and economy rate of 2.17 – on both counts, the best in the tournament for all bowlers with a minimum of five wickets.

Like Ravindra Jadeja, Pandey relies on the strength of his shoulder to generate more speed through the air and is deadly accurate, with 11 of his 16 dismissals either bowled or lbw.

Pandey’s presence as a leader on the field has been noticeable. He has often insisted on bowling without a long-on, inviting batters to take him on and getting the better of them. Four of his remaining five wickets have been batters either stumped or caught at mid-on trying to do just that.

India’s limited but promising pace attack

India’s new-ball pair of right-arm seamer Raj Limbani and left-arm quick Naman Tiwari might have gone somewhat unnoticed with the batters grabbing Player-of-the-Match awards and Pandey bagging most of the wickets, but they could be pivotal in the semi-final (and the final, possibly) all in Benoni. Limbani, with an inswinger that might remind one of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in his early years, got the new ball to do more in ten games at Bloemfontein than any other quick bowler, despite always bowling in the afternoon. Tiwari is sharp, skiddy, and surprises batters with the short ball.

Willowmoore Park in Benoni, the venue for the knockouts, saw pace dominate in the virtual quarter-final between Pakistan and Bangladesh, where 13 out of the 18 wickets that fell to bowlers went to quick bowlers. Ian Bishop, who commentated on that game, called it “one of the fastest surfaces he has ever seen for an Under-19 World Cup, with significant lateral movement, bounce and carry”.

If the surface plays similarly for the semi-finals, India will need Limbani and Tiwary to do more than they have previously in the tournament, given that the only other pace-bowling option is batting allrounder Arshin Kulkarni, who has only bowled 15 overs in five games so far.

The captain – Uday Saharan

Solid batter at two down, has got runs in every game, runs hard between the wickets, finds gaps, plays risk-free cricket, and milks the middle overs – Saharan is your quintessential 50-overs No. 4. He hasn’t won a Player-of-the-Match award yet, often playing the supporting act to those who have, but Saharan has been the backbone of this impressive batting line up. Musheer and Sachin Dhas, after their hundreds that earned them Player-of-the-Match awards, credited Saharan for guiding them through the middle overs, constantly passing information on what bowlers are likely to bowl or what is needed from the next passage of play.

On the field, Saharan has barely put a foot wrong, attacking with his field placements and being decisive with his bowling changes, with the input of his deputy Pandey, whose contribution can’t be ignored. In an Under-19 tournament, steady leadership and skilful captaincy stands out even more.

How are they in the field?

India have been outstanding as an all-round fielding side. Offspin-bowling allrounder Abhishek Murugan has taken two blinders inside the circle, and opening batter Adarsh Singh has been solid and assured with bat and at slip. Their fast bowlers are athletic and dive around to save runs at the boundary, and wicketkeeper Aravelly Avanish, one of two players in the squad to secure IPL gigs – he was picked up by Chennai Super Kings at the latest auction – is among the best glovemen in the tournament.

Kulkarni, the other IPL player – he was picked by Lucknow Super Giants – is perhaps India’s only weak link in the field, an area that he will have to improve upon as he grows.

All boxes ticked, but have they truly been tested?

India couldn’t have asked for a better set of results, but they also had a number of factors playing into their hands.

They hammered Ireland and USA, winning both games by 201 runs. Their toughest game was the opening fixture against Bangladesh, who beat them in December last year in the Under-19 Asia Cup semi-finals. They played the better game at the World Cup, winning by 84 runs, which remains their closet margin of victory so far.

It proved to be a decisive result, as India topped Group A to remain in Bloemfontein for the Super Sixes, where conditions got better to bat on as the tournament progressed. In the Super Sixes, they faced a New Zealand side that would lose comfortably to Ireland, and Nepal, the only associate side to make it through to the second round.

South Africa, on the other hand, had to overcome a dangerous West Indies side in a thrilling opening game, and then went down to England. Their heist against Scotland saw them snatch top spot in the group and they then blew Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka away in the Super Sixes. They are more battle-hardened than India and are playing at home.

While India still start as favourites against a side they beat comfortably, twice, in the tri-series leading up to the World Cup, this could well be their toughest test.