2018 Under-19 World Cup: India's predicted playing XI against Papua New Guinea

The Indian Under-19 team kickstarted their 2018 World Cup campaign in fine style, defeating Australia by 100 runs in their first match at Tauranga on Sunday.

Led first by the batsmen, the Indians posted 328 for 7 before the bowlers took over to dismiss the Australians for 228 and get the tournament off to a winning start.

The Men in Blue will be seen in action once again on Tuesday when they face minnows Papua New Guinea(PNG) at the same venue.

Here's a possible playing XI for them in that game:

Openers

1. Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw went to New Zealand with a reputation of being the next big thing as far as Indian batting was concerned.

On Sunday, he once again showed why he was being rated so highly when he stroked his way to 94, thereby laying the platform for a big Indian total.

He would look to do more of the same on Tuesday when he steps out to bat.

2.Manjot Kalra

The left-hander, who reminded those watching a bit of Shikhar Dhawan with a leg-stump guard and free-flowing game on the off-side, complemented Shaw very well at the top of the order to get India off to a perfect start.

He missed out on a century by 14 runs on Sunday and will look to reach the three-figure mark on Tuesday.

Middle-Order

3.Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill played a key innings for India

After Shaw fell for 94, Shubman Gill walked in at Number 3 and right from the word-go, displayed a positive intent with the bat.

Early on, Gill showcased his groundstrokes, cover-driving the spin of Ashley Pope beautifully and then later on told the world he could hit the big shots as well, thereby ensuring the Indian innings did not lose the momentum set up by the openers.

He fell for 63 but not before making a big impression with his batting.

4.Himanshu Rana

The right-hander fell for a mere 14 in the opening match and also proved costly with the ball, going for 30 runs in his four overs.

He will look to put in an improved performance on Tuesday against PNG.

5.Anukul Roy

Like Rana, Roy too did not have the best of times with the bat, getting run-out for 6 runs.

However, he did make a vital contribution with the ball, dismissing the well-set Jack Edwards for 73 with his slow left-arm-spin.

Nagarkoti was very impressive with the ball

6.Abhishek Sharma

At 276 for 4 after 46 overs, India needed a real flourish, in the end, to set Australia a total that they would find it hard to chase.

That late impetus to the innings was provided by Abhishek Sharma, who made a 16-ball 23 that helped his side propel themselves from what looked like a score of 310-315 to 328.

Later, Sharma returned to claim the wicket of the Australian skipper Jason Sangha to round off a good all-around day for himself.

7.Kamlesh Nagarkoti

If it was Prithvi Shaw who caught everybody's attention with the bat in hand on Sunday, then it was Kamlesh Nagarkoti who had everyone talking when he had the ball in hand.

The Rajasthan speedster clocked consistently above the 140 kph mark, picking up three wickets and impressing one-and-all with his spell.

8.Shiva Singh

The left-arm spinner went wicketless with the ball and contributed 10 runs with the bat. He will look to put in a better performance in the second game on Tuesday.

Mavi was impressive with the ball

9. Aryan Juyal(WK)

The wicket-keeper walked into the bat at the fag end of the innings and could make a mere 8 runs and with the gloves in hand, he inflicted a couple of stumpings.

10.Shivam Mavi

Nagarkoti's opening bowling partner on the day, Mavi was as impressive as his fellow Rajasthan pacer, bowling at good pace and picking up 3 wickets for 45 runs in 8.1 overs.

11.Arshdeep Singh

The 18-year-old could take the place of the injured Ishan Porel in the starting XI and it will be interesting to see how he fares if he gets a chance on Tuesday.