Georgetown [Guyana], January 13 (ANI):: India U19 head coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar on Thursday hailed skipper Yash Dhull, saying the young skipper can take his own decisions and his instincts will hold him in good stead at the upcoming World Cup.

India will lock horns against South Africa in their opening match of the U19 World Cup on Saturday in Guyana and then the side will lock horns against Ireland and Uganda on January 19 and 22. Yash Dhull also revealed that he looks up to Virat Kohli and he likes how the India Test skipper goes about doing his job in the field.

"The primary quality you need to become a captain of any team is that you should have the respect of your team. Without that, you can be a good captain or player, but you would not be able to do the job. Yash has got the respect of all his players," said Kanitkar during a virtual press conference.

"He is able to take tough calls on the field when it is needed, every time a captain cannot be told to do things. The captain needs to take his own decisions and Yash can do that. It is pretty instinctive, Yash's instincts are fine and he is able to do justice to the job," he added.

Talking about Virat Kohli, Yash said: "Virat Kohli's attitude on the field while batting and leading the side, I have the same and I try to do the job in the same manner."India is the most successful team having won four titles in 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2018. India has also been runner-up in 2016 and in the previous edition of the tournament held in 2020 in New Zealand.

The 14th edition of the tournament will see 16 teams competing for the trophy in 48 matches. The format will see the top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the Super League while the remaining teams feature in the Plate across 23 days of competition. India U19 is placed in Group B.

India squad: Yash Dhull (c), Harnoor Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, SK Rasheed (vice-captain), Nishant Sindhu, Siddarth Yadav, Dinesh Bana (wk), Aaradhya Yadav (wk), Raj Angad Bawa, Manav Parakh, Kaushal Tambe, RS Hangargekar, Vasu Vats, Vicky Ostwal, Ravikumar, Garv Sangwan. (ANI)