Looking for an under-19 encore
Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, bothmembers of the victorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tankthat would be hard to beat
Partab Ramchand
19-Jan-2002
A little-known fact about Indian cricket is that the country's young
talents in various age groups have really proved their mettle at the
international level. Aside from the under-19 team winning the World Cup
two years ago in Sri Lanka, the under-15 team lifted the World Cup in
England in 1996. The under-17 team won the Asian Championship last year.
Somehow, though, this supremacy is lost during the transition to the
senior ranks. But the juniors have certainly covered themselves with
glory in bringing laurels to the nation.
Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, both members of the victorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tank that would be hard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, and Vengsarkar has spent a lot of time with the boys, giving them the full advantage of his considerable experience. |
For one thing, the training sessions for the 26 probables were long and
systematic. For example, coach Balwinder Singh Sandhu was well aware
that the lads would encounter considerable lateral movement in New
Zealand, where the World Cup is to be staged between January 19 and
February 10. So this was among the specifics that went into the
training. Then, after a long stint at the National Cricket Academy in
Bangalore, the squad travelled to Chennai to play three practice
matches.
Unfortunately this aspect of the training was hit by rain, but the
enthusiastic lads made the best of the truncated opportunities. Further,
the selected squad of 14 first went to Australia for a nine-day tour,
during which they played - and lost - two practice games before leaving
for New Zealand. But most important of all, the authorities, underlining
the importance of defending the title, have done well in appointing
former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar as consultant.
Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, both members of the
victorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tank that would be
hard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, and Vengsarkar has spent
a lot of time with the boys, giving them the full advantage of his
considerable experience. The boys certainly do not have to look too far
for inspiration.
The squad, led by Parthiv Patel of Gujarat, is nicely balanced, but only
time will tell whether it is good enough to retain the Cup it won two
years ago. Vengsarkar, however, is in no doubt that the team is strong
enough to retain the title. "The confidence level of the squad is pretty
high, and they have trained strenuously. We have a couple of fine allrounders and a good attack, both spin and medium pace," Vengsarkar said
in Chennai recently. He was of the view that the under-19 age group held
the key to the future of Indian cricket. This viewpoint is difficult to
disagree with, especially when one considers that players like Yuvraj
Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Reetinder Singh Sodhi, all members of that
victorious squad in Sri Lanka, went on to play for India within a short
period.
Vengsarkar said that the youngsters should be nurtured to fill the gaps
in the Indian side and for this, the proper exposure would be to make
them play in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England. While
talking with confidence about the Indian team's chances in New Zealand,
the former star batsman, who scored 6,868 runs in 116 Test matches and
is also the only non-Englishman to score three Test hundreds at Lord's,
felt that Australia and South Africa would be the teams to beat. Things
are not very different even at the junior levels, are they?
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