To be chosen for the Underneath-19 World Cup that was held in 2004 was a giant deal for me. I used to be conscious of the influence in Uttar Pradesh cricket when Mohammad Kaif captained India to the title six years earlier. These had been barely completely different occasions. At present younger cricketers have extra alternatives to catch the attention of selectors; for instance there’s the Indian Premier League. However belief me, the trail from junior to senior cricket received’t be straightforward.
I’ve an attention-grabbing anecdote from my days.
Ambati Rayudu and I went to the previous workplace of the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) on the Brabourne Stadium to gather our package. We packed it within the suitcase we bought and was so excited that after we reached our resort each of us forgot the mix lock password.
I too needed to be a part of a title-winning facet, like Kaif however it was to not be. However future was variety and I used to be capable of expertise the enjoyment of successful a World Cup with the senior workforce in 2011.
I can nearly relive the sensation younger cricketers who’re a part of India’s present workforce will likely be experiencing on the eve of their opening sport in South Africa.
The Uday Saharan-led squad is prepared for the #U19WorldCup 😎
Get able to help the #BoysInBlue as they tackle Bangladesh tomorrow of their opening sport of the match 👌👌#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/JJuaHs14In
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 19, 2024
The Underneath-19 World Cup is a good platform for a teen to carry out. It’s telecast ‘reside’ and you might be sporting the India jersey. A great efficiency will get observed. Enjoying within the junior World Cup gave me a unique stage of confidence and I carried that for a few years. A standout knock by me was the 90 off 38 balls in opposition to Scotland and everybody took discover. Quickly I used to be enjoying for the Uttar Pradesh workforce and sharing the dressing room with stalwarts.
However let me not get the hopes of the present batch too excessive. For each participant who efficiently progresses from the Underneath-19 stage to the senior stage, there are a lot of others who don’t make it. Just because the competitors is intense in India and the upper one goes the more durable it will get. This holds good in any discipline, and never simply cricket.
However one factor which is able to maintain them in good stead, whether or not they have a very good Underneath-19 World Cup or not is tough work, focus and a constructive perspective.
An instance of somebody with the proper mindset is Shikhar Dhawan. He was very proficient, had a very good junior World Cup in 2004 however it was solely after a number of years that he might break into the senior workforce.
I used to be fortunate that a number of former gamers backed me, be it Pravin Amre in junior cricket, Gopal Sharma, who was Uttar Pradesh’s selector then and later Dilip Vengsarkar sir, who was heading the TRDO (Expertise Useful resource Growth Officers) division then.
These a part of the junior World Cup should all the time imagine they’re good as a result of they’re a part of a choose group of gamers.
However on the identical time, being a part of an Underneath-19 World Cup workforce will not be the one solution to get observed.
An ideal instance is that of Rinku Singh. He made a mark within the IPL however has been scoring runs in home cricket and has been working exhausting. So this batch shouldn’t let success go to their head or enable failure to have an effect on them. This can be a massive second, so simply exit and revel in it.
Raina performed 226 ODIs, 78 T20s and 18 Check matches for India. He spoke to Devendra Pandey