From Yuvraj-Kaif in 2000 to Unmukt Chand in 2012: India's love affair with U-19 World Cup

The ICC Under-19 World Cup is the best place to look for tomorrow's stars of cricket. Featuring the best young talents from all the nations, the competition gives you a glimpse of the future of cricket. From Yuvraj Singh to Michael Clarke, many future cricketing greats were first blooded at the Under-19 World Cup.
India has found more success at the U-19 level than it has at the senior level, with three wins out of four final appearances. As India U-19, in the able hands of Rahul Dravid, gear up for a fifth final against a spirited West Indies, we take a look at all of India's U-19 World Cup exploits where they reached the very last hurdle

2000 U-19 World Cup, Sri Lanka
It was the first final India had reached in the U-19 World Cup since its inception in 1988, and under the captaincy of Mohammad Kaif, the men in blue steamrolled their way to win the trophy. India was undefeated throughout, and such was the dominance that India defeated Australia by 170 runs in the semi-final. India went on to defeat hosts Sri Lanka in the final by six wickets, upsetting the home crowd. India were deserved champions.
And guess who was the Man of the Series? None other than Yuvraj Singh - 2011 was not the first World Cup he was adjudged the best player of the tournament. The man scored 203 runs in 8 matches with a then unheard of strike rate of 103.57 and also took 12 wickets — an all-round performance. It was prophetic, as Yuvi went on to do the same in 2011 helping India in bringing home the big one.
It wasn't just Yuvraj and Kaif who came out of the 2000 U-19 World Cup and become future stalwarts of their respective senior sides. Graeme Smith was the highest scorer of the tournament and he went on to captain South Africa. Michael Clarke was there, another future captain. Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Ian Bell, the McCullum brothers — Brendon and Nathan, Shoaib Malik, Danesh Kaneria and many more made their bones in the tournament. It's comforting to know that a crop of today's cricketing icons, most of whom have retired and some are not too far away from retirement, have a piece of shared history.

2006 U-19 World Cup, Sri Lanka

Six years later the U-19 World Cup once again came to Sri Lanka and India were again in the final against familiar foes Pakistan. But history didn't repeat itself this time and India lost to Pakistan by 38 runs. It was a thrilling match. Pakistan, batting first, had just posed a meager 110. But their pace attack ripped apart the Indian top order. India were six down for just nine runs and were bundled out for 71. Pakistan became the first team to register back to back wins in the tournament. They had defeated West Indies in the 2004 final.

This World Cup too featured many big names of today. Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Chateshwar Pujara, David Warner, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan (he represented Ireland but today captains the England limited overs side), Martin Guptill, Tim Southee, Angelo Matthews, Sunil Narine, Kieran Pollard among others.

2008 U-19 World Cup, Malaysia

India, under the leadership of a certain Virat Kohli and Dave Whatmore as coach, made into back to back finals of the Under-19 World Cup in 2008 in Malaysia. This time South Africa, led by Wayne Parnell, stood in the way of glory. India, who had defeated South Africa in the group stage of the tournament, emerged victors in the final too, winning by 12 runs after Duckworth-Lewis was imposed.

Parnell had won the toss and chose to bowl. A brilliant South African bowling performance, led by captain Parnell himself, saw India bowled out for 159. But more drama followed as South Africa lost three early wickets after coming out to bat and then the rain gods took over. After the showers subsided, the revised target for the Proteas was 116 in 25 overs. But they fell short.

Virat Kohli had tasted his first major success and proved his leadership qualities, which are coming quite handy these days to the Indian senior side. Apart from Kohli, Parnell, and Jadeja, the late Phil Hughes, Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner, Steve Smith, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Corey Anderson, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Amir, Dinesh Chandimal, Darren Bravo featured in the tournament. Find all these names familiar?

2012 U-19 World Cup, Australia

This one must be easy to recollect. India, under Unmukt Chand, went Down Under and came back as Under-19 champions. India defeated the hosts by six wickets in the final, with Chand scoring 111 not-out in 130 balls — a match winning innings.

Australia, batting first, posted 225, thanks to captain William Bosisto's 87 not-out. But the Indian captain bettered him with a brilliant knock and India reached the target in 47.4 overs and completed their third U-19 World Cup win.

The ones who starred in the tournament are still too young and have a bright future ahead of them. Hopefully they'll go ahead and script stories for themselves in the future, just like Yuvraj, Kohli, Smith, Warner, Raina, and many more did.

Some have already started their journeys with the senior team. Joel Paris, Travis Head, Kraigg Brathwaite, Quinton de Kock and Ish Sodhi have a made a name for themselves.

The 2016 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh will throw up names too. People may not know them all too well now (a few have already caused a stir - like Sarfaraz Khan for instance, thanks to IPL), but in a few years they'll be household names - watch out for Rishabh Pant.

In a way, the U-19 World Cup let's you peek into the future, and the good thing is, it rarely ever disappoints.

World T20 2016: Pakistan announces squad with 5 Rookies!

After seeking an extension of two days from the ICC, Pakistan finally announced their squad for the Asia Cup T20 and World T20, which will follow the ongoing Pakistan Super League.

The PSL gave the selectors a chance to judge some of the relatively lesser known cricketers, and also monitor the form of the some international players who had not impressed in recent times, namely Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Gul, Sohaib Maqsood, and Mohammad Rizwan.

The squad, sans the four players mentioned above, contains surprises aplenty. Here's a look at why these four were dropped and what their replacements - Babar Azam, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Nawaz, and Rumman Raees - have done to earn a call to the international T20 team.

OUT: Ahmed Shehzad
Afridi's blue eyed boy could not maintain his place in the side after a prolonged period of indifferent form. In his last 8 T20 innings against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, England, and New Zealand, he produced scores of 7, 17, 7, 28, 4, 16, 9, 8. To top that of, his form in ODIs during the same period was nothing to write home about.

His 71 off 46 deliveries against the Karachi Kings in the PSL might have nudged the selectors a bit; however his other 3 innings of 11, 16, and 15 would have further reduced his stock.

IN: Khurram Manzoor
He has never played a T20 International for Pakistan; however his domestic T20 record - an average of 29 and a strike rate of 116 - is quite impressive. He also boasts 2 centuries in the format, something not many other batsmen around the world can stake claim to. Despite this, his inclusion is a bit perplexing given that he was not picked by any of the PSL teams and he hasn't played a T20 match since September last year!

He did impress in the Haier Mobile T-20 Cup in September last year where he was the 4th highest run scorer in the competition, but there were other batsmen that were more impressive in that tournament; namely Faisal Mubashir, Fawad Alam, Khalid Latif, Kamran Akmal, Mukhtar Ahmed, Nasir Jamshed, and several others.

OUT: Sohaib Maqsood
With an average of 13 and a highest score of 37, Sohaib has always looked out of place in a T20 line up. It was surprising to see him in the squads for the series against England and New Zealand. He has been on the sidelines of his PSL team as well, so it is no surprise to see the axe finally fall on him.

IN: Babar Azam
It was high time that the selectors included him in the T20 squad. He has an outstanding domestic record in all formats of the game and he has had a supremely impressive start to his ODI career hitting 5 fifties in only 9 ODIs. An average of over 45 and and a strike rate of over 90 in ODIs suggest that he can translate that form into T20s easily. His domestic T20 average is over 40!

Definitely the right choice!

OUT: Mohammad Rizwan
He is a bit unlucky to miss out considering he hasn't had too many chances to impress. He has done reasonably well in the ODIs he has played; however he played only 4 of the 6 T20s he could have against England and New Zealand. Sure his scores of 6, 24, and 4 in those games were nothing great, but he just didn't get enough chances to prove himself. Even in the PSL he has had only 2 innings scoring 37 and 4. His domestic T20 record is awesome and he is a livewire in the field. Pakistan may have missed a trick by leaving him out of their squad.

IN: Mohammad Nawaz
He has been the find of the PSL. His left-arm spin has earned him the highest tally of wickets in the PSL thus far - 8 in 4 games at an average of 11! The best part about this is that he is primarily a batsman and he has been in fine form for the Quetta Gladiators. He will always be remembered as the find of the first ever PSL that was staged. For him, it came at just the right time. He deserves his place in the squad.

OUT: Umar Gul
He returned from injury after 8 months for the T20 series against New Zealand but failed to impress in the two matches that he played. His form in the PSL has also been indifferent - he has picked up 4 wickets at an average of 35 in the 4 matches that he has played and he has conceded 10 runs an over! It would have been extremely difficult to justify his inclusion in the squad no matter how good his past performances in T20.

IN: Rumman Raees
As if Pakistan did not have enough left arm pacers! It is interesting to see Rumman in the squad ahead of more seasoned campaigners like Gul and Junaid Khan. He has not set the PSL on fire, and he doesn't seem to have the pace to trouble international batsmen; however his impeccable line and length and intelligent variations make him a very economical bowler in T20s. His economy rate in the PSL is only 4.40 and that is what probably impressed the selectors.

*                                      *                                          *

The reason I did not mention Iftikhar Ahmed above is because he has been in the T20 squad for the past few series without playing a game. He has had an outstanding domestic season and it would not have been justifiable to drop him without playing him.

I can understand the reasons to drop Shehzad and Gul, but I can't understand the reasons to select Khurram and Rumman. They latter two might be promising players, however a World Cup is not the place to test them. I probably would have stuck with Shehzad and Gul given their experience, but if they had to be replaced then their were better options like Mukhtar, Fawad, and Junaid out there.

Nawaz and Babar definitely deserve their call ups to the international T20 side and it would have been better had the selectors only opted for these two rookies.

There are as many as five players who have never played a T20 international for Pakistan in their World T20 squad, which makes it extremely inexperienced for a world event!

It is good that there will be an Asia Cup T20 just before the World T20 so Pakistan will get the time to figure out their best XI.

Letter from Harsha Bhogle to Tendulkar just before retirement

This is an open letter written by Famous Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle to Sachin Tendulkar just before his retirement from international cricket.

Dear Sachin,

I guess this means the countdown has begun. It couldn't have been easy for you since cricket has been your life, your solitary love outside of family. I know there are cars and music and seafood, and, as I recently realised, the odd glass of wine, but a bat was what you were meant to hold, and it is with one that you mesmerised a nation and a sport. I wondered if you could have given up Test cricket and stayed on in one-day internationals - until you told me it takes a lot out of you. And you were never one to give less than a 100%.

I guess your body finally won. It had been giving you signals - that permanently cracked bone in your toe, the struggle to get out of bed when the back played up, that elbow... ah, that's a different story altogether, but you always overruled it. It must have sulked but you forced more out of it than anyone else. It was bound to serve notice one day. I mean, you will be 40 soon; people get reading glasses at 40.

But you leave behind an aspect of cricket that you defined. There will be comparisons with other greats in Test cricket, and you will be a chapter in its history, but with the one-dayer, you are its history, in a sense, certainly for India, where you played in more than half the games (463 out of 809). The team had played a mere 165 games before you started, and it is a measure of the impact you had that there were only 17 centuries scored by then. India made a century every 9.70 games. After you started, that number comes down dramatically, to one every 3.52 games. And since that first century, in Colombo, it comes down even further, to one every 3.23 games. To think that you started with two ducks.

Now, of course, the kids keep notching up the hundreds. This young fellow Kohli, for example, who plays with your intensity but whose vocabulary I guess you would struggle with!

Looking back, I can't imagine it took you 78 games to hit a hundred. But then you were floating around in the batting order, spending too much time not being in the thick of it all. I can see why you were so desperate to open the batting in Auckland that day in 1994. Why, when you told me the story of how you pleaded with Ajit Wadekar and Mohammad Azharuddin to give you one opportunity, you sounded like you were still pleading. But I guess you had a history of wanting to be in battle, like that misty night in Kolkata (it was Calcutta in your youth, wasn't it?) when you took the ball in the 50th over with just six to defend and delivered a win.

It seems impossible to imagine that you averaged a mere 30.84 till that day in Auckland, and that you dawdled along at a strike rate of 74. Since then you averaged 47 at a strike rate of 87. It was a marriage meant to be.

I remember that afternoon in Colombo when you approached your first hundred. It had to be Australia, and you were in sublime touch, and you so wanted that first one. You made 110 in 130 balls, but oh, you agonised over those last 15 runs before you got to the century. In a sense, it was like that with the last one too, wasn't it? It was in those moments only that you were a bit like us, that you wanted something so badly, you let it affect your game. But between those two, you were always so much fun, in that belligerent, ruthless, adolescent first phase, in your second, rather more mature and calculated, existence, and of course in that joyous last. What fun that was. The 163 in Christchurch, the 175 in Hyderabad, that 200 in Gwalior, the 120 in Bangalore, the 111 in Nagpur. If it hadn't been for that devilish 100th, would you have continued playing the same way? That 100th hurt you, didn't it, as it did all of us, and I guess we didn't help you by not letting you forget. When the big occasion came, you always played it like another game, even though you knew it was a big day, like those two classics in CB Series finals in 2008, or, of course, those unbelievable nights in Sharjah in 1998. But this 100th took away four or five more.


I know how disappointed you were after the 2007 World Cup. You weren't batting in your favourite position, you were unhappy (if you could ever be unhappy in the game that you revered and tended to like a servant), and without quite saying it, you hinted at the fact that you might have had enough. But the dawn always follows the darkest hour.

After the age of 34, in a young man's game, you averaged 48.36. Even by the standards you set yourself, that was unbelievable (in spite of all those nineties, when, almost inevitably, I seemed to be on air). And most of those came without your regular partner. While Sourav was around, you averaged almost 50 at a strike rate of 89. The mind still lingers on the time the two of you would come out at the start of a one-day international. (I watched one of those partnerships the other night and it seemed only the commercial breaks could stop you two.)

By now you were playing the lap shots more than the booming drives down the ground. It puzzled me and made many nervous. "I want to play down the ground too," you told me, "that is why I am playing the paddle shot. As soon as they put a fielder there, I'll play the big drive." You were playing with the field the way your great friend Brian Lara did when he was on top of his game.

But beyond the numbers some memories remain. I couldn't believe how you went after Glenn McGrath in Nairobi. I must have watched that clip 50 times but understood it more when you told me you wanted to get him angry, that on a moist wicket his line-and-length routine would have won them the game. That pull shot is as fresh in the memory as that first cover drive off Wasim Akram in the 2003 World Cup when you took strike because you thought the great man would have too many tricks for Sehwag.

I remember that World Cup well, especially an unheralded innings in Harare that helped beat a sticky Zimbabwe and put the campaign back on track. And your decision to keep the Player of the Tournament award in your restaurant because you would much rather have had the smaller winner's medal. It told me how much that meant to you, and when I saw the tears on your face that night in Mumbai, I instantly knew why.

I had only once seen you in tears and that was at a World Cup too. You were practising in Bristol. You were just back from your father's funeral and were wearing the most peculiar dark glasses. There was none of the usual style to them; they were big enough to cover half your face. You agreed to my request to speak to the media and briefly took them off while you were arranging your kit bag. I was taken aback to see your eyes swollen. You must have been in another world but you were courteous as ever. It was only Kenya the next day, but I can see why you rate that hundred.

There are so many more. I was only a young cricket writer when I started watching you play, so there will be many. That is also why so many of us will miss you. Somebody said to me he didn't want you to quit because it would mean his childhood was over. It isn't just them. Just as the child in you never grew up, so too did many grizzled old men become children when they saw you in blue. You were a great habit, Sachin.

So you are done with the blue then. But the whites remain. That is our first image of you - the curly hair, the confident look, the front foot stride… all in white. I hope you have fun in them. You don't need to try too hard to prove a point to us because when you have fun we do too.

Cheers, you did well for us. And you gave life and strength to our game.

WOC Cricket Team Of The Week(week-5)

Each week  World Of Cricket assembles the best players from international and leagues competition around the world in a single team on the basis of performance through the whole week.In this week we will take account of matches played in ENG vs RSA series, AUS vs NZ seies,and matches played in PSL too.We have choosen a team consists of  5 batsmen,2 geniune all rounders,3 fast bowlers and 1 spinner.So lets have a look on our Team of this week.

1. Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock is  one of the opener batsman of our team.He had played a brilliant knock of unbeaten 138 with the strike rate of 143,unfortunately  his knock didn't come in winning case due to rain.He has scored total 150 runs in two matches with an average of 150.

2. Alex Hales

Alex hales is our another opener.The English batsman  had faced a tough competition with Martin Guptil of New Zealand  who has scored 121 runs in two matches,while Hales has surpassed him by scoring 156 runs at an average of 78.

3.  Luke Wright

Another English man featuring our team but he is not playing in one day series for England,Luke Wright has performed exceptionally well for Quetta Gladiators team in Pakistan Premier League.Although he is an opener but due to his recent form and  looking at the fact that he was used to come 1st down for English team in t-20 we can't exclude him from this list.He has scored 133 runs in just 2 t-20 innings with an average of 133 which also include an unbeaten 86.

4.  Faf du Plessis(c)

The South African middle order batsman features in our middle order.He is also the most experience batsman in our middle order.He has scored a total of 101 runs for RSA in two matches with an average over 50.Due to the absence of a proper captain and his experience of captaining african side in t20,he is selected as captain also.

5.  Jos Buttler(wk)

The man in form from English team who is thrashing all records of fastest century by English players is our wicketkeeper batsman.He is really enjoying batting in the middle order  right now.and has scored two back to back hundred after promted from lower middle order.He has scored 153 runs with an average of 153 and having strike rate over 150.

  

6.  Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes is our fast bowling all roumder.He had faced a very tough competiton from Martin Slanter of New Zealand.Ben stokes got preference from his counter part due to the advantage of his pace bowling where as Slanter is an orthodox left arm spin bowler.Ben Stokes 57 runs and has taken 2 wickets in 2 matches.

7.  Shakib Al Hasan

After retirement of Jacques kallis,the first name that comes in our mind after hearing allroumder is this Bangladeshi legend.You can't keep him away from game,he will either  perform with bat or bowl or sometime both.He has scored 68 runs and has taken 2 wickets in 2 t20 innings for Karachi Kings in Pakistan Premier League.Due to his ability of hard hitting at the death overs he will be great finisher in the lower middle order.

8.  Matt Henry

Matt Henry is our 1st fast bowler.He is having a decent run in one day cricket for New Zealand.He along with Trent Boult destroyed the whole aussies batting line up by bowling them out first time in less than 25 overs.He has taken 5 wickets in 2 matches with an economy of 12.53.

9.  Josh Hazlewood 

Josh Hazlewood,emerging player of the year will take care of new ball with Matt Henry.He has taken 5 wickets in 2 matches for Australia in the ongoing one day series vs New Zealand.

10.  Mohammad Nawaz

A new talent emerging from PSL is the best spinner of the week.He is also the first player to won man of the match award in PSL.This Pakistani spinner has taken 4-13 in his debut match in PSL for Quetta Gladiators which is later followed by an another economical performance of 1-19.The overall economy rate in both matches is also less than 5 which is quite good in t-20 matches.

11. Rumman Raees

Pakistan producing fast bowlers is not a surprising thing now in wrold cricket. Rumman Raaes has impressed everyone in PSL with his economical bowling.Even bowling in the death overs he  has managed to give only 22  runs in 6 overs with one wicket.With Matt Henry and Hazlewood both haaving right arm bowler,he could provide a variety in the pace attack.

  *all stats are from matches played from monday to saturday this week

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SRH Indian Players 2016

	Shikhar Dhawan DOB : December, 05, 1985 Role : Batsman Batting : Left Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Offbreak ------------------------------

	Yuvraj Singh DOB : December, 12, 1981 Role : All Rounder Batting : Left Hand Bat Bowling : Left Arm Orthodox ------------------------------

	Bhuvneshwar Kumar DOB : February 5, 1990 Role : Bowler Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Medium ------------------------------

	Ashish Nehra DOB : April 29, 1979 Role : Bowler Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Left Arm Fast ------------------------------

	Barinder Singh Sran DOB : December 10,1992 Role : Bowler Batting : Left Hand Bat Bowling : Left Arm Medium ------------------------------

	Karn Sharma DOB : October 23, 1987 Role : Bowler Batting : Left Hand Bat Bowling : Left Hand Googly ------------------------------

	KL Rahul (w) DOB : April 18. 1992 Role : Wicketkeeper Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : - ------------------------------

	Naman Ojha (w) DOB : July 20, 1983 Role : Wicketkeeper Bat Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : - ------------------------------

	Abhimanyu Mithun DOB : October 25,1989 Role : Bowler Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Medium ------------------------------

	Siddarth Kaul DOB : May 19, 1990 Role : Bowler Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Medium ------------------------------

	Bipul Sharma DOB : September 28, 1983 Role : All-Rounder Batting : Left Hand Bat Bowling : Left Arm Orthodox ------------------------------

	Deepak Hooda DOB : April 19,1995 Role : All Rounder Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Offbreak ------------------------------

	Aditya Tare DOB : November 07,1987 Role : Wicket Keeper Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : - ------------------------------

	Ashish Reddy DOB : February 24, 1991 Role : Bowler Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Medium ------------------------------

	Tirumalasetti Suman DOB : December 15,1983 Role : Batsman Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Offbreak ------------------------------

	Parvez Rasool DOB : February 13, 1989 Role : All Rounder Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Offbreak ------------------------------

	Vijay Shankar DOB : January 26, 1991 Role : All Rounder Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Offbreak ------------------------------

	Ricky Bhui DOB : September 29, 1996 Role : Batsman Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Legbreak Googly

SRH Overseas Players 2016

	David Warner (Aus) DOB : October 27, 1986 Role : Batsman Batting : Left Hand Bat Bowling : Legbreak ------------------------------

	KS Williamson (NZ) DOB : August 8, 1990 Role : Batsman Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Offbreak ------------------------------

	Eoin Morgan (Eng) DOB : September 10, 1986 Role : Batsman Batting : Left Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Medium ------------------------------

	Trent Boult (NZ) DOB : July 22, 1989 Role : Bowler Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Left Arm Fast ------------------------------

	M Henriques (Aus) DOB : February 1, 1987 Role : All Rounder Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Medium ------------------------------

	Ben Cutting (Aus) DOB : January 30,1987 Role : All Rounder Batting : Right Hand Bat Bowling : Right Arm Medium ------------------------------

	Mustafizur Rahman (Ban) DOB : September 06,1995 Role : Bowler Batting : Left Hand Bat Bowling : Left Arm Medium