Under-19 World Cup preview: One eye on Cup, one on public sale buzz

There is a pot of gold not on the finish of the rainbow however proper there in the beginning, winking on the youngsters, whilst they embark on the Under-19 World Cup marketing campaign. The razzmatazz of the IPL is simply across the nook with the public sale in February, scheduled to be held just a few days after the ultimate.
How do the younger India cricketers, with the notice that performances in a single event can open the pathway to a different, deal with the stress of fast fame and potential massive cash?

Harnoor Singh Pannu, warmed up for India’s opener towards South Africa on Saturday, with an unbeaten 100 towards Australia Under-19 within the follow sport. Harnoor isn’t oblivious to the windfall an IPL public sale can deliver. But he has his sights educated on the junior World Cup.
“IPL auction is definitely in the back of our mind, but I am focussing on winning the World Cup for India.”
India’s brightest younger stars have had one eye on the public sale and one other on the World Cup for the reason that junior event has simply preceded the public sale which was first held in 2008.
Not everybody can multitask. Pannu’s roommate and fellow U-19 cricketer from Chandigarh, Raj Angad Bawa, has blanked out the public sale. The all-rounder says, “Right now, my only focus is on the upcoming matches. I am not thinking about the IPL auction.”
India U19 World Cup squad. (BCCI/Twitter)
The middle-order batter Nishant Sindhu is extra pragmatic. “If we do well in the World Cup, we’ll automatically be picked for any IPL team. But before that, we want to win this tournament.”
A typical cocktail of hopes however how does it truly play out on the bottom. The clue lies within the current previous.
Sample this from Mandeep Singh, the vice-captain of the 2010 U-19 World Cup.
“I remember a coach told me ‘India U-19’ is a direct entry to the national side. You don’t need to play Ranji Trophy to represent India.”
Abhishek Sharma, the newly-appointed Punjab captain, factors out how he was saved from the IPL obsession by the sensible phrases of Rahul Dravid, who coached that 2018 workforce.
“I would be lying if I say there was no talk about the IPL auction in the dressing room back in 2018.” It’s when Dravid stepped in.
“Rahul Dravid sir told us IPL auctions are going to be the part of your life, but you have to make the decision, which is more important to you – playing for India at present or the IPL, that you guys will play in the future. Having this opportunity to play for India in the World Cup, that doesn’t come very often,” Sharma remembers.
He was bagged by Delhi Daredevils for Rs 55 lakh after his heroics within the 2018 World Cup.
For the present technology, which has grown up watching the IPL, distraction isn’t fairly the precise phrase. It’s been a part of their cricketing ecosystem proper from the beginning.
Growing up with the IPL
Taruwar Kohli, who scored 218 runs, together with three consecutive fifties within the 2008 version, says you’ll be able to’t blame younger cricketers for following the public sale carefully.
“IPL started in 2008, and these guys must have been 6 or 7, when they started following cricket. They have grown up watching IPL and the big names in it, and that’s why this generation of cricketers prefer white-ball cricket more,” stated Taruwar Kohli, who was chosen by the inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan Royals in 2008.
Mandeep Singh layers it additional by mentioning how even worldwide gamers are quitting red-ball cricket to play in several T20 leagues.
“I would not blame the youngsters for prioritising IPL over playing for India. There are so many international cricketers who are quitting red-ball cricket to play in the different leagues across the globe,”
Jaydev Unadkat, who was a member of the India U-19 squad in 2010, means that social media these days performs an enormous half in creating the thrill across the public sale.
The cricketing world has modified past recognition, he says.
“For me, I never thought about the IPL auction because the feeling of getting to play for India U-19 was itself such a high that nothing else mattered. And at the same time, it was a time when U-19 players were picked in the draft instead of at the auction like today. We were playing in New Zealand then, and there was not that great a buzz like we see today. Probably because there was no social media.”
India U19 World Cup squad. (BCCI/Twitter)
Ultimately, it might come all the way down to mentoring. Just as Abhishek Sharma talked concerning the affect of Dravid, so does the person who performed with Kohli in 2008. Tanmay Srivastava was to be the captain earlier than Kohli was reinstated simply earlier than the beginning of the event.
Srivastava, the best scorer in that World Cup, requires good mentoring. “Post U-19 World Cup, the most important thing is to find the right mentor, and especially if you have won the tournament. The sudden fame sometimes makes players feel that they are at the top of the world, which is certainly not a good thing.”
The wiry seamer Arshdeep Singh, who was additionally a part of the batch of 2018, talks concerning the useful inputs to be gained by sharing an IPL dressing room with among the finest gamers. In his case it was Mohammed Shami.

“I would have never thought that I would share the new ball with Shami. Playing and training with world-class players certainly makes you a better cricketer.”
Difficult transition
The transition from U-19 cricket to the nationwide facet isn’t assured, even for probably the most proficient juniors. Only just a few will get away of the pack and transfer forward.
Unadkat remembers how he shortly understood that it was not all roses.
“For me, the reality check happened a week after I returned from the Under-19 World Cup. I was picked for the Saurashtra Ranji Trophy team. I felt it would be an easy passage for me. I was wrong, Mumbai scored some 550 runs and I was wicketless,” recollects Jaydev Unadkat.
Harshal Patel, from the 2010 batch, did the arduous yards in home cricket and the IPL for years earlier than he made an India debut in T20s, versus New Zealand at Ranchi in November. The 31-year-old who has seen all of it has sagely recommendation for these World Cuppers who take it as a right that they are going to be fast-tracked to the best degree. “Only a few people are talented enough to make it to that stage. If you don’t have your basics right, you can work all your life but won’t reach where you want to. You should be willing to struggle, toil, and fail over and over. When you fail, you will be rejected by everyone around; people will start doubting you. You will start doubting your own potential. So if you don’t have the capacity to deal with all these things, you can’t be in a professional sport,” Patel says.

(INPUTS DEVENDRA PANDEY)