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U-19 World Cup: Third time lucky for coach Munish Bali
Recalling the 2008 World Cup triumph, coach Munish Bali said, “That India U-19 team was an outstanding one. We saw cricketers like Virat, Ravindra Jadeja, Siddharth Kaul, Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey eventually play for the India team.”
When India beat England in the final of the ICC Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup in South Africa to bag the title, coach Munish Bali was seen beaming with joy with other team coaching staff members. From Patiala, Munish was part of the coaching support staff of the India U-19 women’s team. Incidentally, it was Munish’s third time when he was part of the India coaching support staff which clinched the U-19 World Cup. Twice he was with the India men’s U-19 team (2008 and 2022) and recently with the Shafali Verma-led Indian women’s U-19 team in South Africa.
The Virat Kohli-led India team which beat South Africa in the U-19 World Cup final in 2008 saw Munish burst onto the international scene.
Recalling the 2008 World Cup triumph, the former Punjab coach said, “That India U-19 team was an outstanding one. We saw cricketers like Virat, Ravindra Jadeja, Siddharth Kaul, Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey eventually play for the India team. The National Cricket Academy has always played a huge role in shaping up teams at U-19 level.” A Level-III coach and an employee of State Bank of India, Munish had been the assistant coach with the 2008 World Cup winning India U-19 team. His surge as a coach has been phenomenal, especially as fielding coach. He travelled as fielding coach with the Yash Dhull-led India men’s team that lifted the prestigious trophy again in 2022 in the West Indies. Throwing light on his stint with the India U-19 victorious team in 2022, Munish it was the most challenging as six players had gotten infected with Covid in the middle of the tournament. As a result, India was forced to field a depleted playing XI for their match against Ireland but India won the game.
“Tackling such a situation was new for us coaches in such a big tournament. And to keep the players motivated and going was the biggest challenge,” added Munish, who thinks the India women winning the U-19 World Cup in South Africa and the Women’s T20 Premier League will provide a huge impetus to the sport.
“These girls are just amazingly talented. They were top-notch as fielders and outclassed England in the final in all departments. The national Cricket Academy also did a fine job in chalking out the plans and preparations for the T20 U-19 World Cup. With the WPL coming in, India women’s cricket is going to reach another level. The India women senior team is also doing well in the T20 World Cup. WPL will increase the India team players’ pool,” felt Munish, who was the fielding coach of the victorious India U-19 team in South Africa. The other members of the support staff were head coach Nooshin Al Khadeer, batting coach Apurva Desai and bowling coach Rajiv Dutta.
Munish was also named fielding coach of the India cricket men’s team which competed in the limited overs tour of New Zealand a few months ago.
