The Young Turks who are ready for the big league

The U-19 World Cup in Queensland has come to an end. The Indians, not only at Townsville, are ecstatic that once again the day has been saved, thanks to the boys in blue. Having started with a defeat at the hands of the Caribbeans, Unmukt Chand & co. bounced back in fashion and saw out gruelling wins in the knock-out rounds against Pakistan, Kiwis and eventually the hosts in the Final. The importance of a tournament that has produced talents like Yuvraj Singh, Alistair Cook, Virat Kohli, Shaun Marsh and Umar Gul cannot be ignored. Selectors hence keep tabs on these young turks and some of them make a smooth transition to the national side, while others are fast-tracked quite early. Needless to say, there have been quite a few eye-catching performances in this World Cup too. Let us look at some of the stars of the tournament who have the potential to come of age and stand up to the rigours of international cricket.

Unmukt Chand

The captain’s knock in the final itself speaks volumes about not only this boy’s batting prowess, but also his ice cool temperament under immense pressure. Four down and a familiar middle-order collapse looming, Chand showed how ready he is for international cricket by batting through the innings. Putting an arm around incomer Smit Patel might not have been new to sport, but it surely helped put the butterflies in Patel’s stomach to sleep. It was eventually this pair that hit the winning runs. With a 78 against Zimbabwe the only innings of repute prior to the final, Chand’s well-paced century perhaps emulated Dhoni’s World Cup final knock. Unmukt has opened a few innnings for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL and will probably feature in the Champions League T20 in October. Drawing comparisons with fellow Delhi player Virat Kohli would surely please him, but he is less of an aggressor. His ‘apology’ to the Townsville mayor for any nuisance on their part shows his down-to-earth humble nature.

Reece Topley

This tall English fast bowler has had a good start to his English county career. Hailing from a family of First-Class cricketers, he began his career with Essex, whom dad Don Topley had represented, with five-fors’ against Kent and Middlesex. Before reaching Townsville, he had snapped up 37 wickets in just 10 first class games. England might have finished 5^th in the World Cup, but the gangly left-arm pacer’s swing has earned him wickets at his mercy, finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 19 scalps from 6 outings at just 9.1 runs per wicket. With an ethereal economy rate of only 3.1, runs scored off him were at a premium. At the moment, it might be as difficult for a fast bowler to get into the senior English side as it is in the 10 o’clock local trains in Mumbai, but England bowling coach David Saker’s confession about the importance of a left-arm fast bowler in T20 cricket means Topley might have an opening.

Will Bosisto

Voted Man of the Tournament, the Aussie captain is mature beyond his years. Bosisto had a Herschelle Gibbs moment when he dropped his opposite number Chand’s catch in the Final, which could have swung the result homewards. Although that might rob his sleep for quite some time, Bosisto is a level-headed bloke and there have been sufficient proof in the Cup itself. With Australia reeling at 33/3 chasing Bangaldesh’s 172 in the Quarters, ‘keeper James Peirson was Mankaded. After enough tempers had been flared in the middle, the Bangla captain decided to stick with their appeal and Australia lost a fourth. But mature as he is, Bosisto’s nerves of steel saw them home, with him scoring an unbeaten 134-ball 71. Save for the Semi-Final against the Proteas where he was run out for 40 with the game in the pocket, Bosisto was not dismissed by any bowler during the Cup. Coach Stuart Law believes that besides needing to develop a few more gears in his batting, Will is a cool customer but an aggressive captain who couldn’t have led with greater distinction.

Anamul Haque

The Bangladesh skipper’s gamesmanship around the Peirson’s Mankading incident might have got a few experts raving, but Anamul’s wily character portrays the rising challenge that Bangladesh have been posing to the stronger nations in recent times. An extremely witty cricketer, Anamul topped the domestic runs chart for the 2011-12 league season. His splendid domestic form spilled on to the World Cup, as he struck centuries against continental rivals Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Anamul also scored a vital 56 against England which helped them finish 7^th. A keeper batsman, he has been knocking on the doors of the senior eleven and had already received a couple of calls to the senior side. Anamul looks very much like the senior team captain Mushfiqur Rahim in his swashbuckling approach to batting and is has been selected for

Harmeet Singh

When a certain Ian Chappell considers you to be the second best spinner in the world among the present lot, you have reasons to back your talent. Amidst the lavish praise heaped on the Indian seam trio of Ravikant Singh, Sandeep Sharma and Kamal Passi, the left-arm offie Harmeet has carved his own niche in the eyes of the experts. The Bishen Bedi-inspired bowler might not have picked up a bunch of wickets (6) at Townsville, but he is being touted as a challenger to the Test slots of the Ashwins and the Ojhas. Harmeet picked a match-clinching 7 wickets on his Mumbai debut against Himachal and followed it up with 10 more in the next 2 Ranji matches. Singh, who received a Deccan Chargers contract in summer, bowls with the same flight and guile that had made Bedi a threat in his heydays. What is required is a big heart to handle the uncompromising batting that international cricket throws at you, and Harmeet should be troubling most batsmen.

Note:

George Dockrell of Ireland, who bowled 22 maidens in the Cup, has already shown that he belongs to the big league having played in the World T20 (2010) and the World Cup (2011). With 53 internationals scalps from ODIs and T20s, Dockrell sat for his school exams soon after the WT20 and has a whopping 59 wickets in just 18 FC games for Somerset.

West Indian opener Kraigg Brathwaite got into the national Test side at the age of just 17, and has notched up 4 fifties in 9 Tests thus far. Nicknamed BoBo, he emerged as the highest run-getter in the 2010 edition. Playing his second U-19 Cup, he scored half-centuries against the Zims and Kiwis, and a couple of thirties in the classification games. Apart from a few necessary technical adjustments, this Barbados lad looks the part.