U-19 World Cup triumph merely the means to an end for Yash Dhull’s intrepid warriors – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

There might be more celebrated success stories in Indian cricket, but for sheer fortitude in the face of debilitating odds, few can match the exploits of Yash Dhull’s magnificent boys at the Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean.

With little match-play, and therefore competitive experience, in the two years leading up to the tournament, these lads had already been denied the luxury their predecessors had enjoyed. As it turned out, a triangular in Kolkata where Bangladesh competed with two India sides, and the Asia Cup in the UAE, proved enough for Dhull and head coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar to polish the rough edges before the showpiece event.

A routine win against South Africa in their opening group fixture in Georgetown was the ideal fillip before the squad travelled to Port of Spain for their games against relative lightweights Ireland and Uganda. In the Trinidad & Tobago capital, they would be reunited with VVS Laxman, the National Cricket Academy’s Head of Cricket who had shared his wisdom with his wards and facilitated a meeting with Rohit Sharma during a short camp at the NCA ahead of the Asia Cup. Things couldn’t have been going more swimmingly.

Until. Until a rash of Covid-positive cases threatened to derail their campaign. On the morning of the Ireland game, India had exactly 11 available players; among those in isolation were the skipper and his deputy, Shaik Rasheed, the team’s two best batsmen. Strength and conditioning coach AI Harssha donned borrowed blues, ready to ferry drinks. It was a full-blown crisis.

How the 11 young men handled that crisis was a stirring testimony to the power of the strength of mind, of unbending will. It was as if overnight, they had graduated from boys to men. As Laxman, Kanitkar and the rest of the support staff looked on, beaming with pride, they drove Ireland to their knees, then chopped Uganda to size with a powerhouse batting performance to top their group and earn a quarterfinal shot at defending champions Bangladesh in a repeat of the 2020 final.

While the immediate focus of the support group was to rally those fit to play, the unfortunates waiting out their isolation period and hoping desperately for the negative tests that would allow them to fly out to St John’s in Antigua for the knockout phase figured prominently in the think-tank’s mind space. The coaches were in constant touch with these boys through zoom calls and catalysed virtual interactions between the players and their parents to boost the morale of the former and assuage the concerns of the latter. By the time Dhull and the others rejoined the larger group, the team had come closer together despite the constraints of distance.

It speaks to the resilience, a word Laxman used more than once while paying tribute to the young champions, that Dhull and Co. were able to literally step off the plane and take the field against Bangladesh none the worse for their week-long isolation. Any rust from no practice at all before the Bangladesh match hardly showed. India bossed their opponents, the first of three convincing knockout wins setting the base for their fifth Under-19 World Cup crown.

The boys’ willingness to constantly learn, improve and develop as not just cricketers but as people was illustrated by their inquisitiveness and the propensity to soak up information like a sponge. Their spirits were further lifted when Virat Kohli spoke to them virtually from Ahmedabad, two days before Saturday’s final against England. In as much as all victories are earned and completed on the field of play, this outstanding triumph owes itself to an all-round, larger-picture, holistic approach that is bound to stand the players in great stead as they embark on the next, more challenging chapter of their cricketing journey.

Like Rahul Dravid before him when he oversaw the Under-19 team, Laxman has gone to great lengths to impress upon his charges that the World Cup is a means to an end, not an end in itself. A decade down the line, few will remember who constituted the 11 that clinched the 2022 Under-19 World Cup unless some go on to play for the country at the senior level. And, as history reveals, Under-19 success is no guarantee to greater honours. The Kohlis and the Rohits, the Jadejas and the Yuvrajs, the Kaifs and the Gills, the Sehwags and the Harbhajans, the Rahuls and the Agarwals are the exception, not the norm.

Take the team that lifted the World Cup in 2012, for instance. Immediately after the tournament, Ian Chappell advocated the inclusion in the Indian Test team, no less, of skipper and opener Unmukt Chand and left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh who, the former Australian captain said, reminded him of Bishan Bedi. Neither remotely threatened senior India selection. Indeed, of the 11 that conquered Australia, only one, Hanuma Vihari, has gone on to represent the country.

Traversing the spectrum from Under-19 to senior cricket can be a confusing, harrowing, frustrating ride for even the most gifted. At the junior grade, these are superstars accustomed to having things their own way. If and when they make the next step up, they will be walking into a dressing-room with already established names, some of them stars in their own right. The Principal could soon be just another Ballerina, a shock to the system that requires careful handling and nurturing by mentors and guides with only the purest of intentions.

That’s where greater coordination between the NCA and state associations can help. Clearly, the NCA/Laxman can’t influence state selections, but if they can convince those that matter that there is a bright future ahead of many of these boys if they get adequate opportunities, it’s a win-win for all. That will be the immediate challenge ahead of the boys, some of whom might aspire for Ranji Trophy slots as quickly as this season. Constant counselling and a certain degree of handholding without mollycoddling isn’t a bad recipe if these exceptional talents aren’t to be lost to Indian cricket forever.

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