5 most promising U-20 cricketers from India

There was a lot of buzz regarding the squad selection leading to the World Cup. Would MSK Prasad, chief selector of the Indian National Team, and committee select experience over youth? Would Rishabh Pant be selected because of his big-hitting ability or would it have to be Dinesh Karthik's experience that would be accounted for (he played the 2007 World Cup)?

Investment in youth

When MS Dhoni was the captain, he emphasized on the need to experiment with the squad by including young players. One such example was the inclusion of Rohit Sharma in the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia. He was just 20 then.

After a successful 2006 U-19 World Cup campaign where India lost to Pakistan in the final, he was drafted into the squad for the inaugural World T20 in 2007. He delivered by scoring a gritty half-century in a crunch tie against the hosts South Africa, and overall had a good tournament.

Scouting and grooming young talent

The Indian Premier League has become a great platform for young cricketers to showcase their talent. The league has given us many cricketers who have gone on to make their debut for India.

Another platform which has been a rich source of players with great potential is the Ranji Trophy (and other domestic tournaments such as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy).

Players such as Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur made their debut for India owing to consistently good performances for several seasons in the domestic tournaments.

Scouting is another way to unearth rare talent, and the IPL is directly related. John Wright, head coach of Mumbai Indians, spotted Jasprit Bumrah's awkward yet effective action during a West Zone T20 game in 2013 (he was only 18 back then). He was picked up by the Mumbai Indians, and the rest, as we all know, is history.

The players who perform well at the youth levels, most importantly at the U-19 level, are snapped up by the teams from IPL. Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey were picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008, while Ravindra Jadeja represented Rajasthan Royals.

Kohli made his debut against Sri Lanka in August 2008 under the stewardship of MS Dhoni, and Jadeja made his debut in February 2009, against Sri Lanka. Rishabh Pant, who represented India U-19 at the 2016 ICC U-19 World Cup, made his international debut a year later in 2017.

We take a look at the five finest and most exciting prospects who could have a very promising and long future with the Indian cricket team, including a few of those who have already made their debut for India.

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5. Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Nagarkoti has consistently shown his ability to bowl ridiculously quick deliveries ( Image courtesy: Getty Images)

19-year-old Kamlesh Nagarkoti decimated batting line-ups of the opposition teams at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 with his pace. He consistently generated speeds in the higher 140s and almost clicked 150 kph in a game against Australia. His average speed during the game was 143.6 kph.

The Rajasthan bowler made his List A debut during the 2016-17 season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and just two days after making his debut, he snapped up a hat-trick in a game against Gujarat, making him the first-ever Rajasthan bowler to pick up a hat-trick in List A cricket. He also has a half-century to his name.

He was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2018 Indian Premier League auctions for Rs. 3.2 Crore, a considerably large fee for a teenager. Unfortunately, he was ruled out for the entire season, and in spite of being retained for the subsequent season, he got injured again and missed the 2019 season as well.

We have been unlucky not to see him in action for a long time. However, it won't be too long before he dons the Blue jersey and adds firepower to an already potent Indian pace attack. How good a duo would he make with Jasprit Bumrah!

4. Riyan Parag (17 years)

Parag (right) became the youngest player in IPL history to score a fifty ( Image courtesy: Getty Images )

Hailing from Assam, not many knew him until he made the headlines during this year's Indian Premier League, scoring 160 runs from 7 games and managing to scalp 2 wickets via his leg-spin. He was a part of the Indian squad that won the U-19 World Cup in 2018.

At 17 years and 175 days, he created history by becoming the youngest player in the 11-year history of the IPL to score a half-century. He showed maturity beyond his years by playing a few important knocks for Rajasthan Royals and took them over the finish line in a couple of games. He has shown glimpses of anchoring the innings and finishing the game.

At 15, he was already a part of the U-19 squad that toured England for the 2-match unofficial Test series, where he scored three half-centuries. Parag has incredible potential and if he can justify the promise he has shown by performing consistently in the next couple of years, he'll surely be in the reckoning for a national call-up. He is still raw, but keep an eye on him because he's the next big thing.

3. Rahul Chahar (19 years)

Rahul Chahar became an important figure in the Mumbai Indians' lineup ( Image courtesy: Getty Images )

He is the younger brother of Deepak Chahar. But make no mistake, as he has certainly managed to create his own identity with terrific performances on the domestic front, the IPL, and for the India U-19.

Having played under the tuetelage of both MS Dhoni and Steve Smith at Rising Pune Supergiants in 2017, Mumbai Indians bought Rahul Chahar at the 2018 IPL auction, although he did not play a game. Mumbai Indians won the 2019 edition of the IPL, where Chahar played a starring role, picking up 13 wickets in as many games and bowling some game-changing spells.

The 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy was where he rose to prominence, emerging as the highest wicket-taker for Rajasthan by picking up 20 wickets in 9 matches. He can easily bamboozle the best in the business with his leg-spin, as seen during IPL 2019.

At 19, he has a lot of time to work on his weaknesses, but he has enough talent to make a name for himself at the international stage. Rahul Chahar has been selected for the T20I series against West Indies next month, and this is just the beginning for him.

2. Prithvi Shaw (19 years)

CAXI v India - International 4-Day Tour Match: Day 2

Prithvi Shaw took the cricketing fraternity by storm when he pummeled 546 runs in a Harris Shield match in 2013, setting a record of the most runs scored by any batsman at school level cricket (later surpassed by Pranav Dhanawade in 2016 who scored 1,009 runs).

The 19-year-old became the second youngest Indian to score a Test hundred, and the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut. He won the Player of the Series award for scoring 234 runs in 2 matches against West Indies.

Owing to his incredible First Class record for Mumbai (he has eight centuries in two seasons), he was appointed as the captain of the U-19 team for the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2018. He led the team to the title and had contributed significantly while opening the batting.

The swashbuckling opener was later bought by the Delhi Daredevils (now the Delhi Capitals) for Rs. 1.2 Crore. He had an impressive debut season. Having sealed a spot in the Test squad, he will be looking forward to being Rohit Sharma's protege in the shorter formats.

1. Shubman Gill (19 years)

England U19's v India U19's - 4th ODI

Shubman Gill is slowly starting to become a household name in the Indian domestic circuit. During the 2018-19 season, he was the top run-getter for Punjab, scoring 728 runs in just 5 games. The highlight of the season was his magnificent innings of 268 runs against Tamil Nadu, which was his maiden first-class double hundred.

He came into the limelight during the 2018 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, where he aggregated 372 runs at a Bradman-esque average of 124.00. This fetched him the Player of the Tournament award and ended up scoring the highest number of runs in the tournament.

At the 2018 IPL Auctions, he was snapped up by the Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 1.8 Crore. He has scored five half-centuries for the franchise over two seasons and has now become an integral part of the squad. He made his debut for India in an ODI against New Zealand in January, earlier this year.

Given his appetite for scoring big, he is going to be on the selectors' radar (however, he has been overlooked for the West Indies tour). He has the flair, the panache, and all the other ingredients to become one of the best players in the future.