Cricket devotees and pundits around the world always have their eyes on ICC under-19 world cup. Stars like Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteswar Pujara came into eminence with their exploits in the U-19 world cup.
India were on a rampage in the 2012 under-19 World Cup as they thrashed each and every team in the tournament except West Indies before playing Australia in the finals. Led by Unmukt Chand, India went into the finals against William Bosisto's Australia in Townsville and were the favourites to win the title.
They lived up to the favourites’ tag by dismissing Australia for just 225, thanks to a splendid spell from Sandeep Sharma. Chasing 225 to win, India were reduced for 97/4 in the 24th over of the game. Captain Unmukt Chand and Smit Patel got things back on track and lead India to world cup victory.
U-19 cricket has always thrown exciting talents. Seven years down the line, we assess where these youngsters stand today based on the promise they had displayed.
1) Unmukt Chand
Temperament to stay calm under pressure situation with run-scoring abilities is what makes Unmukt Chand a rare talent. And that's what made him popular in international cricket, than many international cricketers even before his debut. Chand became the second cricketer from Delhi after Virat Kohli to successfully led team India to ICC under-19 world cup victory. He scored a fabulous century against Aussie in the final to help India clinch the title. Afterwards, Chand was picked by Delhi Daredevils and played his first match against KKR but he failed to capitalise on his chances. He played a total of 7 matches scoring 61 runs later on he was picked by Rajasthan Royal and then by Mumbai Indians but he spent most of his tournament on sidelines. Later on, Unmukt Chand was named the captain of the Delhi Ranji team and played 48 First-class matches in which he scored 2690 runs with an average of 35.39 and played 79 List A games and scored 2796 runs. He played for Delhi for a period of 8 years, due to indifferent performance he was not given many chances.
So he left Delhi and is all set to play for his new Ranji team i.e Uttarakhand.
2) Hanuma Vihari
"292nd test cricketer" and only cricketer from Andhra in last 19 years to play for India. 7 year’s earlier, he was an integral part of the under 19 winning team. And due to his magnificent performance, he was sold to Sunrises Hyderabad in 6th edition of the IPL and played 17 matches for them and scored 284 runs with an average of 17.21 and a decent strike rate of 86.69. He played for Hyderabad till 2016 but this wasn't enough for him. Afterward, he joined Andhra and scored his first triple century, making 302 against Odisha and was leading run-scorer for Andhra in 2017-18 Ranji trophy. He played in total 74 first-class games and scored 6108 runs with an average of 59.30 which is considered the highest batting average by an Indian batsman.
3) Baba Aparjith
He scored 171 runs in 2012 under 19 world cup which included 1 half-century. He plays for Tamil Nadu and have five hundreds and 14 fifties in 56 first-class matches at an average of 37. He scored his first double century against West zone in Duleep trophy and was leading run-scorer for TN in 2017-18. He was part of Chennai Super Kings and despite his decent first-class record, he hasn't played a single game in IPL.
4) Prashant Chopra
Prashant Chopra has a good batting average of 43.37 in 49 games. In 2017-18 he had a breakthrough season in which he scored 271 on the opening day against Punjab. He went on and scored 338 and was leading run-scorer for Himachal Pradesh, due to this he was picked by Rajasthan Royals for 2018 IPL and was named in for India Green for 2018-19 Duleep trophy. And later was named in the squad for India B.
5) Akshdeep Nath
One of the main member of India's U19 title win in 2012, Akshdeep Nath was the Vice-Captain of that glorious team. Afterwards, he had a good time in the domestic circuit with a batting average of 45.34 in 23 matches and he scored 1541. He was leading run-scorer for UP in Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare trophy and because of his outrageous performance, he was picked by Gujrat Lions in 2017 and later on was bought by KXIP in 2018. Further, he played for royal challengers Bangalore in 2019 IPL and played a crucial role in the middle order.
6) Vijay Zol
He became famous before under-19 world cup win with his unbeaten 451 of 467 deliveries, he batted for almost 11 hours. He made his List A debut for Maharashtra in Feb, 2012 against Baroda and afterward, was signed by Royal challengers Bangalore. Later he was named in India A squad against New Zealand.
7) Smit Patel
Wicket-keeper batsmen who performed well both in front of the wickets and behind the wickets. He scored 62 runs in the finals with Unmukt Chand to clinch the title. He was leading run-scorer for Tripura in 2017-18 Ranji trophy. In total, he has 13 first-class matches and scored 663 runs with an average of 30.13.
8) Harmeet Singh
Harmeet Singh was praised by Ian Chapel in 2012 under-19 world cup in Australia. Afterward, he was picked by Rajasthan Royals in 2013 auctions. He represented Mumbai and picked 17 wickets in first 3 matches. Currently, he is playing for Tripura and was leading wicket-taker in the 2018-19 Vijay Hazare trophy.
9) Sandeep Sharma
He is also known as “Swing King” for the amount of swing he gets. He played an important role in India's under 19 world cup campaign. He represents Punjab in the domestic circuit and took 162 wickets in just 42 games. He also represented senior Indian team in two T20 internationals against Zimbabwe in 2015. He was picked by KXIP in 2013 and played for them till 2017. And currently, he is playing for Sunrises Hyderabad.
10) Ravikant Singh
Ravikant Singh made his Ranji debut for Bengal in 2012 post the ICC under-19 world cup 2012.
And played just one match. Afterwards, he was ignored by selectors.
11) Vikas Mishra
Left-arm orthodox who was part of ICC under-19 world cup winning team. He was picked by Delhi Daredevils in 2012, he has played 15 first-class games and took 55 wickets. He never gave up and was named in the India green squad for 2018-19 Duleep trophy. He was also the leading wicket-taker for Delhi in 2018-19 Ranji Trophy.
