India's Under-19 World Cup captains: Where are they now?

The Under 19 World Cup has always proved to be one of the most exciting tournaments in the world of cricket. The passion and the excitement shown by the youngsters have truly been a delight to watch over the years.We have seen eleven U-19 World Cups take place with the first edition of the tournament taking place way back in 1988 where the Australians came out victorious. The next World Cup took place only ten years after that and has been taking place every two years since then.India have been the most successful team, winning the tournament four times - in 2000, 2008, and 2012, 2018 under the captaincy of Mohammed Kaif, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand and Prithvi Shaw respectively.Extra Cover: India’s 2008 U-19 World Cup squad: Where are they now?While some of these World Cup captains went on to represent India and become hugely successful, there have been a few of them who have faded away and not been performing too well in the domestic circuit as well.In this article, we take a look at all of India’s Under 19 captains, how they performed during the U-19 World Cup, and what they are currently doing. # 1 1988 – Myluahanan SenthilnathanSenthilnatan (right) with Glenn Mcgrath. Photo credits: Indian Express1988 saw the first-ever World Cup take place for the U-19 sides. Known as the Youth World Cup back then, India performed poorly as they finished in 6th place out of the eight teams that took part in the tournament. Led by Myluahanan Senthilnathan, the youth team were trying to take inspiration from the senior side who were performing reasonably well around that time.Senthilnathan was the highest run-getter for India in the tournament with 149 runs to his name in 6 matches. However, he did not represent India in Tests, or ODIs. The youth squad included a few players such as Nayan Mongia, Pravin Amre, and SLV Raju who went on to represent India in the future.After the 1988 world cup, Senthilnathan continued to play first-class cricket Goa and Tamil Nadu and played his last game in the 1995-96 season. He is currently the chief coach of the MRF pace foundation, which helps in nurturing and developing the skills of young Indian cricketers. #2 1998 – Amit PagnisPagnis ended his career playing for RailwaysAfter a ten year gap, The MTN U-19 World Cup was held in South Africa. India performed much better than what they did in 1988 but were knocked out in the stage before the final due to their poor net run-rate. The squad included Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag who went on to become legends for the Indian cricket team.Unfortunately, Amit Pagnis failed to make it big as he never featured for the Indian cricket team. He performed quite poorly in the World Cup as well as he managed 175 runs in 6 innings at an average of 29.16.After the World Cup, he continued to play first-class cricket for Mumbai. He did not have a great batting average at the domestic level as well as he managed 5851 runs in 95 matches. He switched teams later on his career and retired after playing for Railways in 2008. He is currently a cricket coach in Mumbai and was seen coaching Under-25 cricketers at the Maharashtra Cricket Association in 2014. #3 2000 – Mohammad KaifOne of the most athletic cricketers to play for IndiaOne of the best fielders the Indian cricket team has ever produced, Kaif led India to world cup success in 2000. The squad included Yuvraj Singh who went on to become one of India’s greatest ever limited-overs cricketer and who continues to shine for the Men in Blue. After ending up as the highest run-scorer in the 1998 version, Kaif did not perform as well in 2000 as he managed to score 170 runs in 8 matches at an average of 34.57.Kaif did not have a long career with the Men in Blue as his inconsistent performances led to him being dropped from the side shortly after the World Cup. He continues to play cricket to date and is the captain of the Chattisgarh state team.#4 2002 – Parthiv PatelPatel has not been a regular with the senior sideAfter Nayan Mongia’s retirement, India’s search for a wicket-keeper batsman came to an end when Parthiv Patel became India’s youngest debutant in 2002. He captained the U-19 side in the U-19 World Cup that year. Unfortunately, India were knocked out by South Africa in the semifinals of the tournament.He did not enjoy too much success with the Indian side, and was replaced by MS Dhoni in 2004. Parthiv Patel made a comeback to the Indian Test side against England in November in 2016 after Wriddhiman Saha injured himself. He was not able to cement his position in Saha's absence and now plays in the IPL and the domestic circuits.#5 2004 – Ambati RayaduRayadu has performed well whenever he has played for IndiaAmbati Rayadu is one of the few players who must feel hard done by the fact that he has hardly ever played for the Indian cricket team despite consistently performing well at the domestic level.He led India to the semifinals of the 2004 U-19 World Cup where India ended up losing to their arch-rivals Pakistan. He had an average tournament as he ended up with 149 runs in 6 innings at an average of 24.83.After the World Cup, Rayadu went on to play first-class cricket for Hyderabad and Baroda. After immense success with his state side and with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, he earned a call-up to the national side in 2013. However, he could not deliver on what was hoped from him. Rayudu fell into a myriad of controversies including bouts of rage, that included the 3-D glasses fiasco, which turned out to be the end of his national career.#6 2006 – Ravikant ShuklaShukla’s career never got going Out of all the cricketers on this list, Shukla is the one who has the poorest record. He led India to the final of the 2006 edition of the U-19 World Cup, but India ended up losing to Pakistan once again. Shukla had a miserable as he scored only 53 runs in 5 innings at an average of 10.60.The Indian U-19 squad included the likes of Cheteswar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, and Piyush Chawla who all went on to represent India in the years to come.After the tournament, Shukla went on to first-class cricket for Uttar Pradesh but achieved very little success there as well as he managed only two centuries in his entire career. Having played his last first-class match for Goa in 2014.

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