5 U19 World Cup stars who faded away

Nkala failed to fulfill his potential in international cricket
Nkala failed to fulfil his potential

The 12th edition of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup is already underway with Matchday-1 done and dusted. Hosts New Zealand began with an easy win over reigning champions West Indies while Zimbabwe had a cakewalk against Papua New Guinea. Bangladesh U19 registered an easy win over Namibia U19. However, the upset of the day was scripted by Afghanistan U19 who defeated Pakistan U19 by five wickets.

Over the years, the U19 World Cup has seen numerous stars producing sensational performances. Many of them have gone on to shine in international cricket like Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Graeme Smith and Shane Watson. However, some stars in the U19 World Cup haven’t been able to perform well in international cricket. Here are 5 foreign U19 World Cup stars who have not been able to fulfil their potential in international cricket.

Also read: 5 Indian U19 cricket stars who went off the radar

#5 Mluleki Nkala, Zimbabwe

Mluleki Nkala was only 16 when he played for Zimbabwe at the 1998 U19 World Cup in South Africa. Zimbabwe reached the Super League round ahead of West Indies, with Nkala spearheading their bowling attack.

Nkala produced some brilliant spells throughout the tournament, including a match-winning 5/51 against West Indies which helped Zimbabwe reach the Super League. During the Super League stage, Nkala bowled a spell of 4/26 against Sri Lanka. Out of the six matches he played, he picked up wickets in four of them and on all occasions, took at least three.

Nkala was the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 16 scalps at an impressive average of 13.06. However, his international career did not go according to plan. From 2000-2005, Nkala took 11 Test wickets from 10 matches. From 1998-2006, he took just 22 ODI wickets in 50 ODIs. He took the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar with only his second ball in international cricket, but faded away badly.

Nkala has not played for Zimbabwe since 2006 and last played a First-Class game in March, 2013. He has 91 First-Class wickets and 71 List-A wickets to his name.

#4 Ian Daniel, Sri Lanka

Daniel never played for Sri Lanka
Daniel never played for Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan reached the final of the 2000 U19 World Cup at home and one of the key reasons behind their long journey was batsman Ian Daniel. Daniel was the third-highest run-scorer of the competition with 299 runs at an impressive average of 74.75. He scored two fifties, including one against Pakistan in the semi-final at Galle.

Three years later, he was included in the Sri Lanka A team. His consistent performances for the A-team and in First-Class cricket saw him being selected in the Test team for the tour of Zimbabwe. However, he never got a chance to play. He was never recalled to the national team again. He has nearly 9000 First-Class runs to his name, including 22 centuries. He last played a First-Class match in April, 2014 while representing the Ragama Cricket Club.

#3 Zahid Saeed, Pakistan

The highest wicket-taker at the 2000 U19 World Cup never got a chance to play for pakistan
The highest wicket-taker at the 2000 U19 World Cup never got a chance to represent Pakistan at the senior level (Image Credits: Cricinfo)

Zahid Saeed was one of the star players of the 2000 U19 World Cup in Sri Lanka. He was the highest wicket-taker of the tournament, with 15 wickets at an impressive average of just 7.60 and an equally brilliant economy rate of 2.58. 12 of those wickets came during the Super League stage, including the tournament’s best spell of 5/14 against Australia.

Pakistan exited the tournament in the semi-finals, but Saeed made quite a name for himself. However, he never played international cricket for Pakistan despite having 299 First-Class wickets to his name. Saaed was once fined by the PCB in 2002 for ball-tampering during a domestic tournament in Pakistan called the Ramadan Cup.

#2 Brett Williams, Australia

The top-scorer of the inaugural U19 World Cup never played for Australia and played only 7 matches in domestic cricket
The top-scorer of the inaugural U19 World Cup never played for Australia and featured in only seven matches in domestic cricket

Australia were crowned the champions of the inaugural edition of the U19 World Cup (then known as the Youth World Championship) in 1988 at home. One of the biggest reasons for their success was the batting performances of opener Brett Williams. Williams was the highest run-scorer of the tournament, with 471 runs, the second most number of runs in a single edition of the U19 World Cup.

Williams scored two centuries during the course of the tournament, including one against Pakistan in the final at Adelaide. However, Williams could not produce such brilliant performances at the senior level. He played just seven matches in domestic cricket and never played international cricket. His last professional cricket match came in 1990.

#1 Wayne Holdsworth, Australia

The highest wicket-taker of the inaugural U19 World Cup never played for Australia
The highest wicket-taker of the inaugural U19 World Cup never played for Australia

At No. 1, we have another Australian star from their victorious U19 World Cup campaign in 1988. Wayne Holdsworth was the joint-highest wicket-taker of the inaugural U19 World Cup at home, with 19 wickets at an impressive average of 12.52 and an economy rate of 3.29.

He took 19 wickets despite missing the first match. Holdsworth did not have any five-wicket hauls to his name, but took wickets in every match he played. His best figures during the tournament were 4/36 against New Zealand and Pakistan during the group stages.

However, Holdsworth was never called up to play for the nation despite having nearly 250 wickets to his name in domestic cricket.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram