The Under 19 World Cup has always given the budding cricketers an opportunity to express themselves. Many cricketers have gone on to become stars of international repute after graduating from that level.
However, for every Virat Kohli,Yuvraj Singh and Chris Gayle, there are way too many players like Taruwar Kohli, Brett Williams or Tanmay Srivastava who faded away into obscurity after the tournament. Very few players manage to make that transition successfully and the ones who do seem to make it big.
So we thought of going down the memory lane and find out about the ones who became the highest run-getter in the 11 editions of the tournament so far. The highest scorer of the 2016 edition was Jack Burnham for England who amassed 420 runs at an average of 84.
Jack now plays for Durham in the English county cricket and has played 11 first-class matches so far. He also scored his maiden first-class century against Surrey and his well-compiled knock of 135 earned him rave reviews from the aficionados.
But what about the other 10? What are they doing now? Let’s have a look.
Note: We are following the chronological order
1988- Brett Williams
In the inaugural edition of the under-19 world cup, which was named the McDonald’s Bicentennial Youth World Cup, the hosts Australia lifted the trophy, thanks to the efforts of Brett Williams who was the top run-getter in that tournament.
Brett scored 471 runs at an average of 52.33 in the 9 games he played and inspired his team to that famous triumph. But what happened to him afterwards, still remains a mystery.
That particular world cup had players like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Brian Lara who went on to become great players in the future. However, the man who trumped them to become the leading run-scorer remained in the shadows.
Brett played only 4 first-class and 3 List-A games for South Australia till 1990 and after that, there have been no traces of him. We tried to find out what he is up to nowadays.
Besides being the Business Manager at Fleetcare, (written on his Facebook profile) which is Australia's largest privately owned fleet management company, it seems that Brett now plays indoor cricket for Western Australia and was recently selected for the Men's 45's & over Australian side in the Indoor Cricket.
We also tried to confirm whether he is the same Brett Williams or not and got conclusive evidence as well. First of all, his age matches the criteria and some of the comments on some of his photos on his Facebook profile are indicative of the fact that he is indeed the one who top-scored in that tournament.
1998- Chris Gayle
The second edition of the tournament was held in South Africa in 1998 and the West Indies batsman Chris Gayle emerged as the highest run-getter with 364 runs in 7 matches. Gayle went on to play international cricket for West Indies and earned many accolades in his career for his swashbuckling batting.
The marauding southpaw went on to play 103 Tests, 269 ODIs and 50 T20Is for the national side and made 17954 runs across all the formats.
Gayle also emerged as one of the top players in the T20 format with his gigantic hitting and he is often called the king of the format. Who can forget that hundred which he made against South Africa in the opening match of the inaugural edition of the T20 World cup in 2007.
He has a decent Test record too and apart from Bradman, Sehwag, and Lara, Gayle is the one who has scored two triple hundreds in Test matches.
Owing to his problems with the cricket board of the country, Gayle of late has become only a T20 player who plies his trade in various T20 leagues across the world. He has been fairly successful in doing that as well.
Recently his autobiography ‘Six Machine’ was published and it is generating quite a lot of buzz.
2000- Graeme Smith
One of those rare cricketers who became the captain of the senior team at a very tender age, Graeme Smith came into reckoning with his stupendous performances in the 2000 edition of the Under 19 World Cup which was held in Sri Lanka.
Smith scored 348 runs in that tournament which was won by the India under-19 side. Later, at the age of 22 years and 82 days, he became the fourth youngest cricketer to lead his national side in a Test match.
Smith also went on to lead the Proteas in record 109 Tests(highest by any captain) and achieved a winning percentage of 48.62. Undoubtedly one of the greatest skippers South Africa ever had, Smith is an inspirational figure in South African cricket for the way he led their side with tremendous courage and unbridled passion.
After retiring from international cricket in March 2014, Smith now works as a commentator and he briefly worked as the batting consultant for the South African national squad earlier this year after South Africa fared badly against England in the first Test match.
2002- Cameron White
The 2002 edition of the tournament saw Australia emerge victorious, thanks to the efforts of the highly talented prodigy, Cameron White. White, who was also the leader of that side, finished as the highest run-getter in that tournament with 423 runs and led his troops to an emphatic win.
However, in the early days of his career, he was more of a leg-spinner who could use the long handle effectively. White made his debut for the senior ODI side in 2005 and later went on make his Test debut as a leg-spinner in 2008 against India. Despite showing so much promise, the talented cricketer could only manage to play 4 Tests, 88 ODIs and 47 T20Is for Australia before he was dropped from the national team owing to his inconsistent performances.
White, however still plays first-class cricket for his state side Victoria and he is one of their main players. Having led Victoria at a tender age of 20, White was widely expected to scale great heights in future but somehow his career failed to reach the level where it was supposed to.
2004- Shikhar Dhawan
India’s Shikhar Dhawan finished as the highest run-getter in that tournament with 505 runs in 7 matches. Though he couldn’t make it to the national side immediately, yet the gutsy character didn’t lose hope.
He went on to make his debut for India in ODIs in 2010 against Australia but failed to make it count as he got out for a duck. However, three years later, the southpaw announced his arrival in some style.
Striking a magnificent 187 on his Test debut against Australia in Mohali, Dhawan impressed one and all and since then he hasn’t looked back. Dhawan is now a permanent member of the Indian squad and he will look to carry on his good work in the years to come.
Talent has never been an issue for the left-hander but it is his inconsistency which has often let the left-hander down. It will be interesting to see how the Delhi-based cricketer fares in the upcoming months for India.
2006- Cheteshwar Pujara
Another Indian, a boy from Saurashtra burst onto the scene with some impressive performances in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2006. Pujara scored 349 runs at an astonishing average of 116.33 in that tournament and emerged as the highest run-getter.
Always thought to be suited for the longest format of the game, Pujara made his Test debut for India in 2010 against Australia and impressed everyone with his knock of 72 in the fourth innings of the match which helped India win the match by 7 wickets.
Pujara’s penchant for big runs made him a certainty in the Indian squad before his form nosedived as India went overseas. Still, Pujara managed to hold on to his own as he came back with strong performances in the series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka last year.
However, his limited-overs career didn’t quite take off as he only managed to play 5 ODIs for India. Pujara is slated to tour West Indies as a part of the Indian Test squad.
2008- Tanmay Srivastava
The top-scorer of the tournament that was held in Malaysia with 262 runs, Tanmay Srivastava inspired India to their second under 19 world cup triumph. However, he was one of those players who showed early promise but failed afterwards.
In 2009, the Uttar Pradesh southpaw was one of the better openers in the Indian domestic cricket. Strong performances in the Under-19 level got him a place in the Challenger Series even before he could play first-class cricket for UP.
He was contracted by Kings XI Punjab for the IPL, and he followed it up with a strong first-class season, ending as UP's leading run-getter in 2008-09. However, he couldn’t quite continue his run of form afterwards and features for Uttar Pradesh in the domestic tournaments.
Although still a regular member of UP’s Ranji trophy team, his last List A match came in 2014 and last T20 match came in 2013.
2010- Dominic Hendricks
The South African left-handed batsman scored 391 runs at an average of 97.75 to become the highest run-getter in the 2010 edition which was won by Australia. Showing great promise, Hendricks also went to represent his state, Gauteng, in one-day matches with a top score of 51 on debut in November 2009.
Earmarked as the one watch out for in the future, the 25-year-old Hendricks must improve his first-class average of 37.02 to impress the national selectors.
2012- Anamul Haq
In another edition when India emerged the winners, a boy from Bangladesh stole the show with his exemplary performances with the bat. Anamul Haq plundered 365 runs in 2012 to emerge as the highest run-getter and later, the right-handed wicket-keeper batsman went on to represent his country at the senior level.
However, his performances for the senior team didn’t quite live up to the expectations and he was subsequently dropped from the playing eleven. Anamul played his last international match in Bangladesh in November 2015 which was a T20I against Zimbabwe.
Anamul is currently playing the Dhaka Premier League for Gazi Group Cricketers.
2014- Shadman Islam
Another Bangladesh youngster, Shadman Islam became the top scorer of the 2014 edition with 406 runs at an average of 101.50. Unleashing his array of strokes in the tournament held in the United Arab Emirates, the southpaw made everyone sit and take notice of the talent he possesses.
However, he hasn’t yet made his debut for the senior side and plays in the domestic cricket only. Shadman has played 17 first-class matches so far and his average of 43.53 isn’t bad either. He is currently playing for Kalabagan KC in the List A matches.
Can Shadman reach that next level? Only time will tell as he now must improve his List-A average of 29.34.
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