CHENNAI: Six batters, two wicketkeepers, four spin-bowling all-rounders, three pace-bowling all-rounders and two quicks. This is the make-up of the Indian team at the Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean from January 14 to February 5. The junior selection panel on Sunday named a 17-member squad and five stand-byes for the tournament which India have won four times and have been runners-up thrice. The squad, to be led by Delhi's Yash Dhull, will leave for Dubai on Monday to take part in the Asia Cup before leaving for Guyana towards the end of the month.
With junior cricket coming to a standstill in the 2020/21 domestic season because of the pandemic, the junior selection panel led by S Sharath picked the squad purely on the basis of the performances in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy. The Challenger Trophy held subsequently helped the selectors prune down the pool to 30, and they were divided into two teams that featured in the triangular series with Bangladesh earlier this month. On an average each player who has been picked for the World Cup has featured in approximately a dozen games.
With the BCCI adopting a policy that ensures that a player can take part in only one Under-19 World Cup, Hyderabad's Tilak Verma and Jharkhand's Kumar Kushagra missed out. Rajasthan quick Salaudeen, who topped the wicket-taking charts in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy with 22 scalps in eight matches, is the big miss as he is undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy for a stress fracture. Haryana and Maharashtra have the maximum representation with three players apiece thanks to their excellent show in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy which saw them play the final with the former emerging champions.
That said, apart from having varied talent and depth, the squad also has a good combination thanks to multi-utility players. The presence of seven all-rounders means Dhull and head coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar can be flexible with the XI. Though they are short on match practice, the players go into the tournament with form behind them. Among the six batters, Andhra's SK Rasheed (805 runs overall) and Chandigarh's Harnoor Singh (802) are big hopes alongside Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Dhull, Siddharth Yadav, KS Tambe. While Haryana's Dinesh Bana (SR of 107.56, high score of 170) looks to be the front-choice wicketkeeper, UP's Aaradhya Yadav, by virtue of being a top-order bat, will also be contention as he is picked as a third-choice opener.
Haryana's Nisthanth Sindhu (429 runs and 21 wickets), Karnataka's Aneeshwar Gautam (518 runs, 11 wickets), Maharashtra's Vicky Ostwal (307 runs, 11 wickets) and Tamil Nadu's Manav Parakh (154 runs, 21 wickets) are India's options for the spin-bowling all-rounder's spot. For seam-bowling all-rounder's spot, there is a three-way competition between Haryana's Raj Angad Bawa (19 wickets, 290 runs), Maharashtra's RS Hangargekar (26 wickets, 244 runs) and Garv Sangwan (29 wickets, 155 runs). In Salaudeen's absence, UP's Vasu Vats (21 wickets) and Bengal's left-arm quick Ravi Kumar (17 wickets) are expected to be new ball options.
India's Under-19 Squad: Yash Dhull (captain), Harnoor Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, SK Rasheed (vice-captain), Nishant Sindhu, Siddarth Yadav, Aneeshwar Gautam, Dinesh Bana (wk), Aaradhya Yadav (wk), Raj Angad Bawa, Manav Parakh, Kaushal Tambe, RS Hangargekar, Vasu Vats, Vicky Ostwal, Ravikumar, Garv Sangwan.
Standby players: Rishit Reddy, Uday Saharan, Ansh Gosai, Amrit Raj Upadhyay, PM Singh Rathore.