India's Under-19 World Cup captains: Where are they now?

#7 2008 – Virat Kohli

Kohli in action for the U-19 side in 2008

Kohli has undoubtedly been the most successful cricketer in this whole list. After successfully leading India to World Cup success in 2008, he went on to represent India in all three formats and is currently one of the best batsmen in the world.

He had a good run in the 2008 tournament as he scored 235 runs in 6 matches at an average of 47 with one century to his name.

Currently, Kohli is the captain of the Indian cricket team in all the three formats of the game. He took over as Test captain in 2014 and became the limited-overs captainlater on after MS Dhoni stepped down.

#8 2010 – Ashok Menaria

Menaria had a decent run with the Rajasthan Royals

This Rajasthan cricketer was destined to have a bright future ahead of him, but things did not go as planned as he has not yet made a debut for the Indian cricket team. He led India to the quarter-finals of the 2010 U-19 World Cup where India ended up losing to Pakistan for the fourth time in eight years.

Menaria had an extremely poor tournament with the bat as he scored only 31 runs in 5 innings, but he performed decently well with the ball with six wickets in six matches. Mandeep Singh, who is a part of India’s T20 squad now was the find of the tournament for India back then.

Currently, the 29-year-old plays for his state Rajasthan in the domestic circuit where he has amassed 4677 runs in 79 matches at an average of just below 39.

#9 2012 – Unmukt Chand

Unmukt is yet to make a mark on the big stage

Four years after Virat Kohli led India to World Cup success in South Africa, it was another Delhi lad who did the same in 2012. Unmukt Chand was compared to Kohli after India’s magnificent performance in the tournament and people predicted him to be Indian cricket’s next big thing.

He had an impressive run in the tournament as well as he managed 246 runs in 6 innings at an average of 49.20. He guided India to victory in the final against Australia where he scored an unbeaten century.

However, his performances for the Delhi state team in the domestic circuit have not been too great as he has scored 3379 runs in 67 matches at an average of 31. Due to this, he has not yet made debut for the senior side.

#10 2014 – Vijay Zol

Zol took India to the Quarter-finals in 2014

Two years after Unmukt Chand’s side lifted the trophy in Australia, India failed to defend their trophy as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by England despite winning all their group stage games. They ended up winning the 5th place play-off match after defeating West Indies.

Captaining the side back then was Maharashtra’s Vijay Zol. He had an average tournament as he managed to score only 120 runs in 5 matches at an average of 24. Deepak Hooda, Sarfaraz Khan, and Shreyas Iyer were the prominent names to have emerged from India’s squad.

Currently, Zol continues to play for Maharashtra in the domestic circuit and has not enjoyed too much success with them as he has 733 runs in 15 matches at an average of 35.

#11 2016 – Ishan Kishan

Kishan transformed his career after a poor outing in the World Cup last year

With the tournament being held in Bangladesh, India performed exceptionally well but were denied victory by a dominant West Indies side in the final of the tournament.

Ishan Kishan, who was the captain of the side, had a tournament to forget as he scored only 73 runs in 6 matches at an average of 12.16. Sarfaraz Khan who played in the 2014 edition as well, was the top run-scorer in the tournament. India also found a gem in Rishabh Pant, who made his T20 debut against England in January 2017.

After a poor World Cup, Kishan worked on his batting and has proved his worth for Jharkhand in the domestic circuit. He has scored 2665 runs in 44 matches for the state side at an average of 37. After a good couple of Ranji seasons, he played for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and has been in the fringes of the Indian national team.

#12 2008 – Prithvi Shaw

New Zealand v India - First Test: Day 3

2018 was a fantastic year for young Prithvi Shaw. After winning the U-19 World Cup with the likes of Manjot Kalra and Shubhman Gill, Shaw translated his credentials into a Test debut against West Indies in October 2018. In the process, Shaw became the second-youngest player to score a century for India, after Sachin Tendulkar.

In the same year he was awarded an IPL contract with the Delhi daredevils for a sum of ₹1.2 crores.

The records did not stop there; he was the youngest Indian to have scored a century on debut, and also the youngest player to open the batting in the IPL history.

While he did well in the IPL and the domestic circuit, he had mixed fortunes in the international circuit.

In the recent times, Shaw has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, starting with a send back from the Australia series last year in the pretext of an 'ankle injury' and the latest fiasco of doping that saw him getting banned for eight months.

#13 – 2020 Priyam Garg

Priyam Garg

Priyam Garg's India lost an absolute thriller against Bangladesh in the 2020 U-19 World Cup held in South Africa. Despite relatively young, Garg's First Class statistics speak for themselves. Playing for Uttar Pradesh, Garg averages 66.69 with the highest score of 206.

Speaking about Garg UP captain, Akshdeep Nath had earlier said that, Garg was way beyond his years.

After scoring truckload of runs in the domestic and sub senior levels, Garg was awarded an IPL contract in December 2019.