10 Indian players who made their domestic debut before playing the under-19 World Cup

The 2018 under-19 World Cup is less than a couple of months away and the teams have already started their preparations for the tournament. The Indian team that is expected to make it to the extravaganza look strong on paper and with the guidance of Rahul Dravid, they can only get better.

Recently, the former India captain pointed out that too much of under-19 cricket is dangerous for a player and advised Prithvi Shaw, who could be the captain of the Indian side in the under-19 World Cup early next year, to play Ranji Trophy for India.

"One thing I found was people stay on and play too much of Under-19, which is dangerous. Age group cricket has a purpose to solve but it's limited. Then on they have to go and play men's cricket. That's what we decided with Prithvi as well," Dravid said.

Few members, who could be a part of the World Cup next year, Prithvi, Shubman Gill, Abhishek Gill, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rahul Chahar, Himanshu Rana etc. have already turned out for their domestic teams in the 2017 Vijay Hazare Trophy and the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy.

This is not the first time that a player is playing domestic cricket before playing the under-19 World Cup. Let us take a look at few Indian players who made their domestic debut before they played in the under-19 World Cup.

---

Shahbaz Nadeem

Shahbaz Nadeem, who made his first-class debut at an age of 15, has been prolific in the domestic competitions for the last couple of seasons. Having picked up 51 wickets in the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy, Nadeem went on to take 56 wickets in the 2016-17 season and became the first Indian bowler to pick 50 wickets in two consecutive Ranji seasons.

Despite his heroics in the domestic circuit, Nadeem is yet to represent India at the top level, thanks to the quality of spinners in our country. If he keeps performing like this, Nadeem will get his India cap sooner than later.

Nadeem made his debut for Jharkhand in December 2004 and in a couple of years, he went on to represent India in the 2006 under-19 World Cup (2 to 15 February 2006).

Piyush Chawla

In spite of being associated with the Indian team for ages, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla is just 28 years and is a few days younger than Indian skipper Virat Kohli. But, the leggie played the 2006 under-19 World Cup (2 to 15 February 2006, two years before Kohli managed to do so) where India finished as the runners-up after they lost to Pakistan.

Chawla went into the World Cup with a lot of experience as he made his domestic debut for Uttar Pradesh on October 11, 2005, a few months before the start of the World Cup. Days after the conclusion of the World Cup, Chawla was drafted into the national squad as he made his Test debut against England in March 2006 at the age of 18.

Chawla, who moved to Gujarat ahead of the 2017-18 season, was a part of the triumphant Indian team that won the 2007 World T20, 2011 ICC World Cup and won two IPLs with Kolkata Knight Riders.

Abhinav Mukund

Abhinav Mukund is easily one of the unluckiest players to have played the sport in the country as he didn't get a chance to prove himself at the international level, thanks to the competition he had during his time. Abhinav made his first-class debut in 2007 and was a part of the 2008 under-19 World Cup 17 (February 2008 to 2 March 2008) but unfortunately, he didn't play a single game for the Virat Kohli's team.

With 8839 runs in 124 matches at an average of nearly 49 in a 10-year-long career, the left-hander has managed to play just seven Test matches since making his debut in 2011. Out of the seven matches, he played five matches in 2011 before he was dropped from the side after the regular opener Virender Sehwag joined the team, and then made a comeback after six years.

Dinesh Karthik

Just like Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik is yet another unlucky wicketkeeper-batsman, whose career crossed paths with MS Dhoni. Though Karthik failed to grab his chance with the Indian team as a 19-year-old that led to the selectors trying Dhoni as the keeper, he got a fair amount of chances later in his career and still, he failed to cement his place in the squad because of his inconsistency.

Karthik, who started his career for Tamil Nadu as a 17-year-old in the 2002-03 season, was a part of the 2004 under-19 World Cup (15 February to 5 March 2004) and went on to make his debut for India in September 2004.

Karthik has been given yet another lifeline by the selectors as he was picked in the Indian ODI side as the team management is struggling to fix their number 4 woes. The right-hander won the 2007 World T20 and the 2013 Champions Trophy with the Indian team and has also won the IPL with Mumbai Indians in 2013.

Irfan Pathan

As a 19-year-old, Irfan Pathan made his debut for India against Australia down under and the left-arm seamer was quite successful in his debut series and the subsequent tour of Pakistan.

Pathan broke into the scene as a 16-year-old in the 2000-01 season for Baroda and went on to play the under-19 World Cup a couple of years later (19 January-9 February 2002). After his first few years, he was hailed as India's replacement for Kapil Dev and that joy short-lived as Irfan lost his way, thanks to the injuries that plagued his career.

He was a part of the Indian squad that won the 2007 World T20 and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. In 2006, he also became the second Indian to register a Test hat-trick when he dismissed Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf in the first over of a Test match in Karachi.

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina's fall from grace is something that is very unfortunate as the left-hander was a crucial member of the Indian limited-overs side for around seven years before he faced the axe in 2015. Since then, it has been very difficult for him to make a comeback into the national side and his performances in the domestic circuit are not helping him either.

Ever since he made the debut for Uttar Pradesh in the 2002-03 Ranji Trophy, Raina showed a lot of promise. His career was promising in the right direction as he played the under-19 World Cup in 2004 (15 February to 5 March 2004) and made his national debut for India a year later as a 19-year-old.

He was dropped from the side soon after and his heroics in the 2008 IPL earned him a place XI and with some consistent performances, Raina cemented his place in the team and even went on to captain the side on few occasions.

He was a part of the Indian squad that won the 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. Adding to this, he also won the IPL and the CLT20 twice each.

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara was a run machine even in his under-19 days as he set the stage on fire in the 2006 under-19 World Cup (2 to 15 February 2006) in which he ended as the best batsman with 349 runs in 6 innings at an average of 117 and is the only Indian to score a century in the tournament.

Just ahead of the tournament, Pujara made his debut for Saurashtra against Vidarbha in December 2005 and since then, there was no turning back for the right-hander as he is still scoring tons of runs both for India and Saurashtra.

Pujara made his national debut in 2010 and has made sure that the transition from Rahul Dravid was smooth for the number 3 spot. He doesn't play limited-overs cricket for India but in the longer formats, he is the second name after skipper Virat Kohli in the team sheet.

Harbhajan Singh

In less than six months after his domestic debut for Punjab in the 1997/98 season, Harbhajan Singh tasted a lot of success as he represented India in the 1998 under-19 World Cup (11 January – 1 February 1998) in South Africa and went on to don the Indian colours in the Bangalore Test against Australia in March 1998.

Since then, there has been no turning back for the offie as he went on to become one of the greatest spinners to have graced the sport from India. He has been in and out of the side for a while and probability for making yet another national comeback is unlikely.

He has represented the Men in Blue in 367 matches across all three formats and has taken over 700 wickets in an outstanding career that is approaching its 20th anniversary. Harbhajan was a part of the 2007 World T20, 2011 World Cup and the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and has also won the IPL thrice with Mumbai Indians.

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh is someone who showed a lot of promise even before turning 16 and a lot touted him as the future of Indian cricket and the dashing southpaw didn't disappoint as he was a proven match-winner for the Indian team for over a decade and has helped the Men in Blue win the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup apart from being a part of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy winning team.

Yuvraj made his debut for Punjab as a 15-year-old against Orrisa (now Odisha) in 1997 and played for India in the under-19 World Cup in 2000 (11 January – 28 January 2000). A few months later, Yuvraj made his debut for India against Kenya in the 2000 ICC Knockout cup and 17 years later, he is still giving his 100% on the field.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is easily the best batsman across all three formats in this generation and the Indian skipper started his journey to the top as an 18-year-old in 2006 as he made his domestic debut for Delhi against Tamil Nadu, a few days before Piyush Chawla's Test debut. A decade forward, Kohli is the captain of the Indian team.

Kohli became a household among the Indian cricket fraternity after Delhi's match Karnataka in 2006 when Kohli stayed back with his team in spite of getting the news about his father's death and saved his team from blushes by scoring a 90. A few months later, he led India to glory in the 2008 under-19 World Cup (17 February 2008 to 2 March 2008).

Later that year, Kohli made his debut for India and in less than a decade, he has established himself as the best batsman in the World.