Pacer Al Fahad rips through India with 5-wicket haul in U19 World Cup

Pacer Al Fahad produced a dazzling display with the ball as Bangladesh restricted India to 238 in their opening U19 World Cup match.

He grabbed five wickets for 38 runs in 9.2 overs at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Saturday.

He became the eighth Bangladeshi to bag a 5-wicket haul at the tournament, following in the footsteps of Tanvirul Islam, Hannan Sarkar, Nazmul Hossain, Enamul Haq Jr, Afif Hossain, Raqibul Hasan, and Maruf Mridha.

Fahad made early inroads, striking twice in the third over and troubling India’s top order with disciplined pace and movement.

He began with a maiden, dismissing captain Ayush Mhatre (6) and Vedant Tribedy but missed out on a hattrick. His first spell ended with figures of 4–0–12–2.

After a brief injury break in the 39th over, Fahad returned in the 45th, dismissing Khilan Patel (8) and India’s lynchpin Abhigyan Kundu (80). He completed his five-wicket haul by sending back Dipesh Devendran (11) in the 49th over.

Support came from pacer Iqbal Hossain (2-45) and offspinner Azizul Hakim (2-42), who chipped in, while Sheikh Parvez Jibon (1-46) claimed his maiden U19 World Cup wicket.

For India, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (72) made repairs early before Kundu guided the team in the middle overs.