U-19 World Cup: A Stepping Stone To Stake Claim But Certainly Not License To Get Into Indian Team

A look back into facts would certainly substantiate the point that not all but only a select few make that successful transition from being a junior wonder-kid to a noteworthy star in the Indian team.

India Under 19 Team

The ICC Under 19 World Cup is the premier cricket tournament at the junior level where the most promising and talented teenaged cricketers get the ideal platform to lock horns against the best in their class and showcase their skills and pedigree to vie for top honours for their respective nations. While the tournament serves as the ideal stepping stone for World cricket to take notice of some prodigious talents who could be potential stalwarts in the future, it does not guarantee them a certificate or license to replicate the stellar feats achieved by them at the junior level. There are lot many factors which eventually charter the path of some of these highly exceptional cricketers to the senior level. Can these players replicate the same class and form at the senior level, do they  have a chance to breakthrough into the senior team factoring the mix of players already established in the senior team, does the player physically develop well enough to take on the grind of top flight cricket and most importantly does he stay focused and remain grounded after being an early bloomer in his teens. A look back into facts would certainly substantiate the point that not all but only a select few make that successful transition from being a  junior wonder-kid to a noteworthy star in the Indian team. Let us take the case of India's U-19 team to further make my point. The most successful team at the ICC Under 19 World Cup with four titles in their kitty had many U-19 heroes who looked destined to make it big at the senior level and breakthrough into the national team but it was not the case to be. The much acclaimed class of 2000 under the captaincy of Mohammad Kaif which brought home India their maiden title was a star studded squad by any means. The likes of Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Ravneet Ricky, Shalabh Srivastava and Venugopal Rao were all prodigious talents in their own merit and played major roles in the victory campaign.

However, it was only Yuvraj and Kaif who really went onto stake a claim in the Indian team and become mainstays. The others made a strong case for selection but either the Indian team was too strong at that point or they were a notch below the desired standard. While, Reetinder Sodhi, Ravneet Ricky and Ajay Ratra faded away into the domestic groove, the rest of the lot long back became forgotten entities. The next batch which represented India in the 2002 edition of the U-19 World Cup had quite a few names who were showstoppers at the U-19 level but again only a handful donned the Blue jersey at the senior level and really make a mark for themselves While, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel and Stuart Binny made the cut into the national team, a few others like Tirumalasetti Suman, Siddharth Trivedi, Paul Valthaty and Manvinder Bisla became noteworthy performers with stellar performances in the Indian Premier League but remained confined to the domestic fold. One hardly remembers the rest of the lot. The 2004 and 2006 Indian Under-19 teams at the ICC U-19 World Cup were perhaps the best sides to have not won the trophy.Both the star studded  units had individual brilliance and flair plenty both with the willow and red cherry. Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, RP Singh, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayadu (all part of 2004); Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Piyush Chawla and  Manish Pandey (part of 2006 team ) were capable enough to don the Indian jersey after proving their class in junior cricket and then coming through the ranks with a couple of strong domestic seasons. 2008 was the landmark year when Virat Kohli announced himself for the first time by successfully leading India to their second World Cup title. Kohli had the company of some promising young turks in Manish Pandey, Shreevats Goswami, Iqbal Abdulla, Siddarth Kaul, Saurabh Tiwary and even Abhinav Mukund who fared well and came up with handy contributions in the showpiece event but most of them failed to make the next leap which Virat Kohli did with stupendous success. The subsequent editions (2010-2016) of the U-19 World Cup witnessed India being a dominant force with 2 to 3 cricketers from every batch building on their strong foundation, fine tuning their game and eventually making the cut into the Indian team on the back of strong performances at various levels of cricket before being handed their India debuts. Notable among them have been Dinesh Karthik, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Khaleel Ahmed and Washington Sundar. The others could not quite live up to their promise showcased at the U-19 level and faded away into oblivion. The last edition of the tournament in 2018 witnessed India laying hands on the trophy for a record extending fourth time largely on the back of the belligerent strokeplay exhibited by Prithvi Shaw Shubman Gill and Manjot Kalra and backed by the seam prowess of Kamlesh Nagarkotti and Shivam Mavi. It has been heartening to see Shaw and Gill making steady progress through the ranks and scoring heavily for their respective state teams in domestic cricket and playing a few eye catching knocks in the Indian Premier League to get well deserved call ups in the Indian team. India once again made it all the way to the finals at the 2020 ICC U-19 World Cup but lost the summit clash to arch rivals Bangladesh, denying them a fifth title. The stars of India's highly successful campaign  were openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyansh Saxena, middle order mainstay Priyam Garg, seamer Kartik Tyagi and leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi who all look to have the skill and temperament to play for India, if coached and groomed well for the future. Amid stiff competition to secure a berth into the formidable Indian team, it will be interesting to see what future holds for these shooting stars. Will these budding cricketers emulate the success of some of their illustrious predecessors who very much like them had initially hogged the limelight at the Under 19 World Cup and went onto become champion cricketers for India or will they end up as just one tournament wonders.