ICC U-19 World Cup: 4 Indians who have won the Man of the Series award in the tournament

The fans always keep a close eye on the top performers in the ICC U-19 World Cup as the players who excel in that tournament often breakthrough to the senior team as well.

There have been many Indian players who have caught the eye of the fans through their performances at the U-19 level, but only four of them have gone on to win the man of the series award in the U-19 World Cup.

Even the current Indian captain Virat Kohli, who has turned out to be such a brilliant batsman at the senior level, hadn’t won the Man of the Series award when he had featured for India in the U-19 World Cup in 2008.

Here are the four Indians who have won the Man of the Series award in the ICC U-19 World Cup.

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#1 Yuvraj Singh (2000)

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh was one of the finds of the 2000 U-19 World Cup. He was not in the top 5 leading run-getters in the tournament. He wasn’t even India’s highest scorer. It was Manish Sharma who scored the most runs for India. But, it was Yuvi’s ability to contribute consistently with both bat and ball which everyone took notice of.

The tall left-hander scored 203 runs in eight matches at an average of 33.83 and a strike rate of 103.57. He then contributed equally efficiently with the ball as well, as he grabbed 12 scalps at an average of 11.50 with the best figures of 4 for 15.

Yuvraj soon got the opportunity to make his debut for India in the ICC Knockout Trophy (now Champions Trophy) and in his very first innings, he scored 84 runs against a quality Australian attack.

Yuvraj was a little inconsistent in terms of converting his starts into big scores at the start of his career, but as the years passed by, he gradually developed into a great white-ball cricketer for India. His contributions were vital in India’s triumphs at the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup.

#2 Shikhar Dhawan (2004)

Shikhar Dhawan - 2004 U19 World cup

Shikhar Dhawan was the leading run-scorer in the U19 World Cup, 2004. In the seven games that he played, the southpaw scored 505 runs at an average of more than 80 and a strike rate above 90. There was hardly any game in that tournament where Dhawan failed with the bat.

However, Dhawan didn’t get a call-up to the senior Indian team straight after the U-19 World Cup. He had to wait for a long time. Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, and Dinesh Karthik, who were Dhawan’s teammates in the U-19 World Cup squad, got to play for the senior Indian team earlier than him.

Dhawan eventually made his senior international debut against Australia in 2010. However, he didn’t get regular playing chances for another couple of years before he was brought into the Indian set up for the long term in 2013.

He first replaced Gautam Gambhir in the Test team and then took his place in the ODI team as well.

Dhawan won the Golden Bat in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 which India won by beating England in the final. The 34-year-old has played 134 ODIs and 34 Test matches for India so far, scoring 5592 and 2315 in the two formats respectively and averaging more than 40 in both formats.

#3 Cheteshwar Pujara (2006)

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara burst onto the scene in the U-19 World Cup of 2006. It was in that tournament itself that the Indian fans got a glimpse of Pujara’s ability to focus hard and bat for long periods of time. The right-hander scored 349 runs for India in six games at an average of 116.33 and a strike rate of 82.11, with the highest score of 129.

Pujara, unlike the other stars of the U-19 World Cups, turned out to be a better batsman in the longer format as he came through the ranks. His performance for Saurashtra was outstanding season after season in first-class cricket which earned him an opportunity to play Test cricket for India.

He couldn’t cement his place in the Indian Test team in the first go in 2010. However, after he was brought back again after the retirement of Rahul Dravid and was given the opportunity to bat at No. 3, Pujara never looked back.

The 31-year-old has got more than 5000 Test runs under his belt with 18 Test hundreds so far. He recently scored his 50th hundred in First-class cricket in the Ranji Trophy 2019-20.

#4 Shubman Gill (2018)

Shubman Gill

Going into the U-19 World Cup of 2018, the spotlight was on the Indian captain, Prithvi Shaw. Everybody was talking about Shaw’s flamboyance. Shubman Gill flew a little under the radar, but he showed what he was capable of through the course of the tournament.

Gill was the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, behind Alick Athanaze of West Indies. The stylish right-hander scored 372 runs in six games at an average of 124.00 and a strike rate of 112.38. More than just his number of runs, it’s the impact that Gill created batting at a strike rate of well over 100 which helped India win games.

India eventually won the tournament with ease and Gill was named the player of the tournament.

Gill has been a fluent runscorer in domestic cricket ever since and has already made his debut for India in ODI cricket. He has been a part of the Indian Test side as well.

The 20-year old averages 67.32 in the 18 First-class games he has played so far.