The 3 rising stars from Indian Under-19 cricket

Sarfaraz Khan of India bats during the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014 match between India and Scotland at the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium on February 17, 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Against the arch-rivals Pakistan, Sarfaraz made a gutsy 74 off 78 and took India to a respectable position, which helped the bowlers to deliver a 40-run victory. In the next match against Scotland, India’s batting had again collapsed and was relying on the shoulders of Sarfaraz. This pressure in terms of the match situation was greater as compared to the game against Pakistan. Indian spinners had left the Scotland team helpless and looking for answers as they were bundled out for 88. India, in reply, found themselves in a terrible position, losing 5 wickets for just 22 runs.

I had the golden opportunity of watching this innings live on TV. I could see the sense of calmness that this young lad had. I’ve been a close follower of U-19 cricket, especially in the last 10 years, and I’ve to say that Sarfaraz is one special talent; all those who saw him bat in this match will without doubt echo me. Sarfaraz started his innings by taking singles, keeping his cool knowing that India had this match in their bag. He was very well supported by Deepak Hooda from the other end, and both of them managed to successfully guide India to the finishing line. Sarfaraz made an unbeaten 45* off 51 balls, with 5 boundaries and 1 six.

During the later part of his innings when India needed less than 20 runs to win, Sarfaraz unleashed an array of big shots and convincingly clinched the victory for India. Even though the tournament yielded nothing fruitful for India in terms of team’s perspective, our country sure did find a very bright future prospect in Sarfaraz Khan.

Prithvi Shaw:

Prithvi Shaw (Image credits: The Hindu)

Prithvi Shaw is another youngster making his way through the ranks of school cricket. Shaw was in the news just few months back after he piled on great runs in the Harris Shield last year, also recording a massive score of 546 in an inter-school tournament: since 1901, this is the highest score by any batsmen in an organized form of cricket in India and 3rd-highest all over the cricketing world.

Shaw’s innings of 546 lasted for a span of six hours and included 85 fours and 5 sixes. This knock was ideally placed as it came just after 3 weeks post Tendulkar’s retirement, who, in 1988, scored 326 runs in this very tournament to grab media’s attention.

He has been a massive run-scorer at the school cricket level, and this gave him the opportunity of going to England on scholarship and sharpen his game. From a few of his interviews that I’ve watched, the confidence in him is clearly visible and the intent to play for India and break Tendulkar’s record is quite evident, as well. Like every youngster, he, too, wants to be the next ‘Sachin Tendulkar’, but, with his own unique batting style and the potential that he’s been blessed with, there’s no one stopping him from achieving his dream.

So, these are the big ‘3’ from the Indian U-19 level cricket. The intriguing fact is that all 3 of them belong to Mumbai or places close to the city from where India got its 2 legends in Gavaskar and Tendulkar.

Can these 3 be the next ‘big 3’ for Indian cricket and become the backbone of India’s batting order?

It wouldn’t be fair to put too much pressure on them at this young age, though. Nevertheless, as an Indian cricket fan, the future looks bright.