The Laxman-Dravid guiding hand in India’s U-19 World Cup triumph

The junior selectors led by Sridharan Sharath went into every detail while picking a squad that would suit conditions in the West Indies and it paid off with a fifth victory for the country

Minutes after their U19 World Cup triumph, skipper Yash Dhull and his teammates were jumping around in joy, snatching the trophy from each other to pose for that perfect picture. VVS Laxman was happy watching from the side lines, even sending ice-cream to all their rooms to celebrate.

VVS Laxman's first day in office at the NCA. (Twitter)

Handed the mic to reflect on the glory, he said, “The win is important, but this is just the start of the journey.” He repeated those sobering words to the boys as a group later in the evening. Having recently taken over as director of cricket at the National Cricket Academy, Laxman has stepped into Rahul Dravid’s shoes, overseeing Indian cricket’s developmental teams.

“It's great to see the way they have developed, evolved over the last couple of months. It's very exciting times for all of them, but it’s just the start of the journey as a cricketer,” Laxman told the broadcaster. Before taking over as India’s head coach, it was Dravid who oversaw three Indian U-19 World Cup campaigns—India won in 2018 and were twice (2016, 2020) runners-up. Dravid would emphasise on how winning the trophy was only a means to an end, to help graduate to the senior level.

Laxman points out that only a few among may go on to play for India and that there should be structures to ensure no one is lost in the transition. “We did not have many tournaments for two years due to Covid. Huge congratulations to the new (junior) selection committee. It was quite challenging for them to identify this group,” he said.

In picking this squad, the committee led by former Tamil Nadu domestic batting stalwart, Sridharan Sharath, had little first-class performances to go by, due to the Covid disruption. “It really helped us that we devised the Challenger tournament of six teams where we had a pool of 90 players to look at, chosen from the Vinoo Mankad Trophy (U19). This was Rahul Dravid’s idea,” said Sharath.

“We looked at how they responded to pressure situations in knock out games. There is fair representation from Haryana, Rajasthan because those teams finished in the final stages.” Haryana won the 2021 Vinoo Mankad title.

Sharath’s committee was appointed only three months earlier. “We knew the pitches in the West Indies would grip and turn. Because of the breeze factor, we needed a left-arm seamer (Ravi Kumar). We needed someone to be able to hit-the-deck (Rajvardhan Hangargekar). What we lacked was a wrist spinning all-rounder. So, we identified two left-arm spin all-rounders (Vicky Ostwal and Nishant Sindhu). We also had two off-spinning all-rounders (Kaushal Tambe, reserve Manav Parakh). We tried to cover all bases in terms of the bowling attack and team balance,” he said.

The roles were well defined. Only opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi and all-rounder Raj Bawa feature in the top 10 run-scorers’ list of the tournament; left-arm spinner Ostwal is the only one to make it to the top 10 wicket-takers’ list.

But in Bawa, whose rising wobble-seamed deliveries pegged England back in the final, vice-captain Shaik Rashid, who hit 94 in the semi-final against Australia and 50 in the final, Yash Dhull, who captained well and scored 110 in the semi-finals, Kumar, who had many productive opening spells, Hangargekar, who was high on pace and promise and all-rounder Nishant Sindhu, the selectors have enough talent to keep an eye on for the future.

“The two back-to-back sixes Dinesh Bana hit (in the final) were equal to any quickfire 50. The unbeaten 50 Sindhu struck in a final with the pressure on was equal to a 120,” Sarath said.

SKIPPER DHULL IMPRESSIVES

India coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar praised Dhull for having a ‘level head on his shoulders’. Sharath said about the Delhi batter: “Dhull’s understanding of the format, his cricketing intelligence, ability to strategise, these are things that numbers won’t tell.”

Dhull said: “I want to play cricket only. The focus will be on the game, rest of the things will take care of themselves. I will take it match-by-match. Let's see what happens. I need to work on my game more, focus more, train more, so I can touch that (next) level. My training will double, so I have to work hard to match them.” Dhull, Harnoor Singh, Aneeshwar Gautam, Bawa, Kaushal Tambe, Hangargekar, Vasu Vats and Ostwal have been shortlisted for the IPL auction.

“We have to make sure they don’t get stagnated after U19s. First class cricket is where they move from boys to men. Those with X factor will be the ones who can convert pressure into pleasure,” said Sharath.