The Indian 15-member squad for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup was recently announced by the BCCI selection committee in Mumbai. Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan was named as the captain of the team.
After the announcement, former India captain and Indian Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid said in an interview that he was happy with the opportunities that the management provided to a number of players helping the selectors pick the best possible squad for the World Cup. The ICC Under-19 World Cup is scheduled to be held during January-February, 2016 in Bangladesh.
India stand a great chance of winning the World Cup for the fourth time. The Under-19 squad did really well in the recent tournaments they played. The Indian colts won a tournament involving Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Kolkata last month. They also emerged as champions in another tri-series against England and Sri Lanka, which was held in Sri Lanka.
However, Dravid was delighted that he was able to give chances to different players and rotate the squad. He lamented the fact that he was not able to give more youngsters chances to showcase their talents since there were just two tournaments to prepare for the World Cup.
India will be playing in Group D, along with Australia, New Zealand and Nepal, which Dravid considered a “hard group”. Each team will play against the other teams in the group only once. It makes all the more vital for the Indian youngsters to be at their best in each of the matches.
The 42 year old also spoke about his experience as a coach and disclosed how he learned several things about bowling which helped him see the game in a different way than when he was playing.
The India Under-19 team will start their World Cup campaign against Australia Under-19 on January 28. Their other group games on January 30 and February 1 against New Zealand Under-19, and Nepal Under-19 respectively.
Here is the video of the interview:
Looking forward to the U-19 World Cup with these boys.. India U19: Ishan Kishan (Capt), Rishabh Pant (VC), Washington...
Posted by Rahul Dravid on Tuesday, December 22, 2015
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