U19 World Cup 2018 Champion - India : Future starts of Indian Cricket
U19 Team India lifted a record fourth Under-19 World Cup trophy after an eight-wicket rout of Australia in the final and giving Rahul Dravid the biggest success of his coaching career. India's previous title came in Australia in 2012 when the Unmukt Chand-led team beat the hosts in the final. The Virat Kohli-led side was victorious in 2008 and Mohammed Kaif was captain when India triumphed way back in 2000. The team's performance was also a fitting tribute to coach Dravid, who finally got his hands on a World Cup trophy. Under Dravid, the side had finished runner-up in the 2016 edition in Bangladesh.
Top 5 Rising Stars of India U19 Team:
Shaw has been in good form in the ongoing Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand scoring a 94 against Australia in the opening match to set up a 90-run victory. Shaw, whose eventual tally at the end of the final stands at 261, completes the tournament with an average of 65.25. As Indian captain at the U19 World Cup, Shaw now has the most number of runs in the tournament in comparison to all previous Indian captains.
2. Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Son of a retired Subedar in the Indian Army, Nagarkoti has taken total 9 wickets in 6 matches in the tournament with an exceptional average of 16.33. Though he was quite good in all the matches, he kept his best for India’s quarter-final against Bangladesh where he bagged 3/18 to fashion India’s 131-run win.
3. Shivam Mavi
Son of a businessman, Shivam hails from Noida in Uttar Pradesh and is currently pursuing his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Al-Falah University in Faridabad. He first caught the attention of national selectors in the zonal Challengers tournament where he bagged 9 wickets in 4 matches.
4. Shubman Gill
He made 63 against Australia, 90* against Zimbabwe and 86 against Bangladesh in the quarters. On Tuesday, he came up with another outstanding performance, scoring an unbeaten hundred to fashion India’s 203-run victory over Pakistan in the second semi-final at Hagley Oval.
5. Abhishek Sharma
Though in this edition of U-19 World Cup, Abhishek has not done enough with the bat scoring only 78 runs in first 5 matches, he has more than compensated for it with a superb show with the ball.
At last but not in the list, let's talk about head coach Rahul Dravid. If we not talk about Rahul, it will be very unfair for this article!
Articulate and oozing with cricketing wisdom, the easiest path to tread for Rahul Dravid after retirement in 2011 would have been to head into the cool confines of the TV commentators’ box.
But Dravid has seldom been known to take the easy route. His hard work and unassuming approach added steel to the India batting line-up for around 15 years. And his willingness to keep wicket to become a regular member of the ODI team provided the side great flexibility. It is that willingness to share, take the responsibility to guide the youngsters and give them confidence that has stood out with Dravid the coach. He has insisted on his wards expressing themselves, and each one has acknowledged his contribution. Sanju Samson swears by Dravid, who guided him at Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, and backed him through the Kerala player’s tough times last year. Hardik Pandya spoke how Dravid on the India A tour of Australia in 2016 helped transform his game and make him mentally strong.
While the BCCI has shown deference to Dravid’s stature, he has produced a blueprint to guide the country’s future talent. He is clear a player can appear in only one under-19 World Cup, ensuring a fresh group keeps coming through.
He made it clear on taking charge that junior cricket was to hone skill, not enhance fitness based on Yo-Yo tests. The focus of India A would be to produce the kind of performance that will help push for an India team spot.
Cheteshwar Pujara acknowledged how, down in the dumps before the 2015 Sri Lanka tour, playing for India A with Dravid as coach helped him regain confidence that led to his brilliant 145 in the third Test win in Colombo.
Dravid’s communication skills have been questioned when he was skipper. That despite his big hand as stand-in skipper in the historic 2004 Test series win in Pakistan, besides success in England and the West Indies. But one image that blew to bits such an impression was the under-19 World Cup squad in New Zealand pasting their coach’s face with the cake cut to mark his 45th birthday.
The win over Australia in the final, though, is the biggest and perfect, birthday present for the Dravid.
U19 Team India Full Squad 2018:
Prithvi Shaw(c), Shubman Gill, Manjot Kalra, Himanshu Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Harvik Desai, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ishan Porel, Anukul Roy, Shiva Singh, Aryan Juyal, Arshdeep Singh, Pankaj Yadav, Aditya Thakare
- Head Coach / Batting Coach: Rahul Dravid
- Bowling Coach: Paras Mhambrey
- Fielding Coach: Abhay Sharma
By some distance, India were the best team in the World Cup. Be it in batting, bowling or intensity on the field, India proved to be far superior to any other team in the competition. Several stars shined through the course of the tournament, led by Shubhman Gill (372 runs), who notched up three fifties and a century. The pacers - Shubham Mavi (9 wickets at 18.88), Ishan Porel (6 wickets at 13.66) and Kamlesh Nagarkotti (9 wickets at 16.33) have given enough proof that India's future in pace looks good. This world cup win was a show of thorough dominance.
Some key numbers from the tournament:
144.50
The average opening partnership per dismissal for India in the tournament with the stands reading 180, 67*, 155*, 16, 89 and 71. Skipper Shaw and Kalra opened the innings on five occasions while Gill and Harvik Desai put together 155* against Zimbabwe.
3
3 Bowlers taking 14 wickets each (the most) in the tournament - India'a Anukul Roy, Afghanistan's Qais Ahmad and Canada's Faisal Jamkhandi. This is the first time in 12 U19 World Cups that a bowler failed to pick at least 15 wickets in an edition.
8/35
by Australia's latest leg spin sensation Lloyd Pope in the quarterfinal against England in Queenstown is the best figures by any bowler in the tournament's history. He rewrote the record set by fellow team mate Jason Ralston four days ago against PNG when he took 7 for 15 in Lincoln. The previous best figures was by Sri Lanka's Jeevan Mendis who took 7 for 19 against Zimbabwe in Christchurch in 2002.
4
4 Fifty-plus scores in successive innings by India's Gill - the second player to hit four consecutive fifties in the tournament after Bangladesh's Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the 2016 edition in Bangladesh. Gill's run of four fifty-plus scores was preceded by two more in England last year taking his tally to six which is the most in the history of Youth ODIs. His scores this tournament read 63, 90*, 86, 102* and 31.
286.95
Strike rate for Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai in his knock of 23-ball 66 in the quarterfinal against New Zealand in Christchurch. It is the second highest in terms of strike rate in a 50-plus score in the tournament history after Rishabh Pant's 24-ball 78 (SR 325.00) against Nepal in the previous edition in Bangladesh.
436 for 4
by New Zealand against Kenya in Christchurch is the second highest team total in the history of Youth ODIs after Australia's 480 for 6 against Kenya in Dunedin in the 2002 edition of the tournament. Sri Lanka made 419 against them in Lincoln thereby making three of the four highest totals in the format against Kenyans
311
Winning margins for Australia against PNG and Sri Lanka against Kenya - the second biggest in terms of runs in the history of U19 World Cups. The only higher margin of win for a team batting first came in the 2002 edition when Australia beat Kenya by 430 runs in Dunedin in 2002.
The average opening partnership per dismissal for India in the tournament with the stands reading 180, 67*, 155*, 16, 89 and 71. Skipper Shaw and Kalra opened the innings on five occasions while Gill and Harvik Desai put together 155* against Zimbabwe.
3
3 Bowlers taking 14 wickets each (the most) in the tournament - India'a Anukul Roy, Afghanistan's Qais Ahmad and Canada's Faisal Jamkhandi. This is the first time in 12 U19 World Cups that a bowler failed to pick at least 15 wickets in an edition.
8/35
by Australia's latest leg spin sensation Lloyd Pope in the quarterfinal against England in Queenstown is the best figures by any bowler in the tournament's history. He rewrote the record set by fellow team mate Jason Ralston four days ago against PNG when he took 7 for 15 in Lincoln. The previous best figures was by Sri Lanka's Jeevan Mendis who took 7 for 19 against Zimbabwe in Christchurch in 2002.
4
4 Fifty-plus scores in successive innings by India's Gill - the second player to hit four consecutive fifties in the tournament after Bangladesh's Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the 2016 edition in Bangladesh. Gill's run of four fifty-plus scores was preceded by two more in England last year taking his tally to six which is the most in the history of Youth ODIs. His scores this tournament read 63, 90*, 86, 102* and 31.
286.95
Strike rate for Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai in his knock of 23-ball 66 in the quarterfinal against New Zealand in Christchurch. It is the second highest in terms of strike rate in a 50-plus score in the tournament history after Rishabh Pant's 24-ball 78 (SR 325.00) against Nepal in the previous edition in Bangladesh.
436 for 4
by New Zealand against Kenya in Christchurch is the second highest team total in the history of Youth ODIs after Australia's 480 for 6 against Kenya in Dunedin in the 2002 edition of the tournament. Sri Lanka made 419 against them in Lincoln thereby making three of the four highest totals in the format against Kenyans
311
Winning margins for Australia against PNG and Sri Lanka against Kenya - the second biggest in terms of runs in the history of U19 World Cups. The only higher margin of win for a team batting first came in the 2002 edition when Australia beat Kenya by 430 runs in Dunedin in 2002.
Top 5 Rising Stars of India U19 Team:
1. Prithvi Shaw:
Prithvi Shaw announced himself at the age of 14 when he slammed a record-breaking 546 in an inter-school Harris Shield match in 2013. Coincidentally, Sachin Tendulkar was also 14 when he first came into prominence in 1988.
After performing consistently in age group and club cricket, Shaw made it to Mumbai’s playing XI in their Ranji semi-final against Tamil Nadu in 2017. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, scoring a hundred on his first-class debut. Later, he also hit a ton on his Duleep Trophy debut and thus equalled his idol Tendulkar’s record of scoring a ton in his debut matches of both Ranji and Duleep Trophy.
Shaw has been in good form in the ongoing Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand scoring a 94 against Australia in the opening match to set up a 90-run victory. Shaw, whose eventual tally at the end of the final stands at 261, completes the tournament with an average of 65.25. As Indian captain at the U19 World Cup, Shaw now has the most number of runs in the tournament in comparison to all previous Indian captains.
On last Saturday, Shaw, bought by Delhi Daredevils for ~1.2 crore, become the fourth captain after Mohammed Kaif (2000), Virat Kohli (2008) and Unmukt Chand (2012) to lift U-19 World Cup.
2. Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Kamlesh Nagarkoti grabbed eyeballs by consistently bowling above 140kph. His gem was one that castled Australia’s Will Sutherland which was hurled at 145kph during India’s opener in the U-19 World Cup.
The 18-year-old, who hails from Rajasthan, had made a name for himself even before the World Cup though. Only two days after making his List A debut for his state team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on February 26, 2017, he claimed a hat-trick against Gujarat. With this, he became the first player from Rajasthan to take a hat-trick in List A cricket.
Son of a retired Subedar in the Indian Army, Nagarkoti has taken total 9 wickets in 6 matches in the tournament with an exceptional average of 16.33. Though he was quite good in all the matches, he kept his best for India’s quarter-final against Bangladesh where he bagged 3/18 to fashion India’s 131-run win.
Nagarkoti was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for ~3.2 crore at the IPL auction in Bangalore making him the most expensive U-19 buy.
3. Shivam Mavi
Like Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi has emerged as a pace sensation in the U-19 World Cup. He has consistently clocked in the range of 140-145 kph, unsettling batsmen with raw pace. With a tally of 9 wickets at an impressive average of 18.88 in total 6 matches, he has given India early breakthroughs more often than not. His best bowling spell of the World Cup came against Australia in the first match when he took 3/45.
Son of a businessman, Shivam hails from Noida in Uttar Pradesh and is currently pursuing his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Al-Falah University in Faridabad. He first caught the attention of national selectors in the zonal Challengers tournament where he bagged 9 wickets in 4 matches.
Shivam, who considers South African pacer Dale Steyn as his role model, was in high demand during the IPL auction last week. He emerged a millionaire with KKR shelling out ~3 crore for him. Great as the deal is, the youngster’s immediate concern would be to continue his good bowling form in the future.
4. Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill’s 18-year-old shoulders are burdened with huge expectations. Just look at the stars the ICC Under-19 Cricket Worlds Cups have produced for India.
Yuvraj Singh (2000); Mohammed Kaif (2000); Shikhar Dhawan (2004); and Virat Kohli (2008): here are the men in whose footsteps Gill will be walking. The right-handed batsman has been in cracking form throughout the tournament in New Zealand.
He made 63 against Australia, 90* against Zimbabwe and 86 against Bangladesh in the quarters. On Tuesday, he came up with another outstanding performance, scoring an unbeaten hundred to fashion India’s 203-run victory over Pakistan in the second semi-final at Hagley Oval.
Gill has 372 runs in five matches at an average of 170.50 and a strike rate of 113.28 in the World Cup. Only West Indian Alick Athanaze, with 418 runs from six matches, has more.
5. Abhishek Sharma
Cricket runs in his blood as his father Raj Kumar Sharma was an age-group player for Punjab. He came into limelight as a 15-year-old when he led Punjab and helped them win the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy. Since then, he has not looked back.
Though in this edition of U-19 World Cup, Abhishek has not done enough with the bat scoring only 78 runs in first 5 matches, he has more than compensated for it with a superb show with the ball.
With his nagging left-arm spin, he has been economical and bagged 7 wickets at an average of 11. His best figures came in the quarter-final match against Bangladesh where he claimed 2/11 in 5 overs. Delhi Daredevils snapped him up for ~55 lakh at the auction.
Articulate and oozing with cricketing wisdom, the easiest path to tread for Rahul Dravid after retirement in 2011 would have been to head into the cool confines of the TV commentators’ box.
But Dravid has seldom been known to take the easy route. His hard work and unassuming approach added steel to the India batting line-up for around 15 years. And his willingness to keep wicket to become a regular member of the ODI team provided the side great flexibility. It is that willingness to share, take the responsibility to guide the youngsters and give them confidence that has stood out with Dravid the coach. He has insisted on his wards expressing themselves, and each one has acknowledged his contribution. Sanju Samson swears by Dravid, who guided him at Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, and backed him through the Kerala player’s tough times last year. Hardik Pandya spoke how Dravid on the India A tour of Australia in 2016 helped transform his game and make him mentally strong.
While the BCCI has shown deference to Dravid’s stature, he has produced a blueprint to guide the country’s future talent. He is clear a player can appear in only one under-19 World Cup, ensuring a fresh group keeps coming through.
He made it clear on taking charge that junior cricket was to hone skill, not enhance fitness based on Yo-Yo tests. The focus of India A would be to produce the kind of performance that will help push for an India team spot.
Cheteshwar Pujara acknowledged how, down in the dumps before the 2015 Sri Lanka tour, playing for India A with Dravid as coach helped him regain confidence that led to his brilliant 145 in the third Test win in Colombo.
Dravid’s communication skills have been questioned when he was skipper. That despite his big hand as stand-in skipper in the historic 2004 Test series win in Pakistan, besides success in England and the West Indies. But one image that blew to bits such an impression was the under-19 World Cup squad in New Zealand pasting their coach’s face with the cake cut to mark his 45th birthday.
The win over Australia in the final, though, is the biggest and perfect, birthday present for the Dravid.
Hope this bunch of U-19 boys will rise and do well for senior Indian team as well in future. They are blessed because they have got the legend Rahul Dravid as their coach and mentor. So, we have great expectations from these colts.
Photo Courtesy: Google
Stats Courtesy: Cricbuzz
Stats Courtesy: Cricbuzz
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