Who is Saumy Pandey? 5 interesting facts about India bowler who took 4/24 vs Bangladesh in 2024 U19 World Cup

Saumy Pandey starred in India's recent win against Bangladesh in the 2024 U19 World Cup. The Boys in Blue opened their campaign against their neighbors in a rematch of the 2020 U19 World Cup.

Captain Uday Saharan and opener Adarsh Singh scored a half-century each to help India U-19s score 251/7 in their 50 overs. Chasing 252 for a win, Bangladesh U-19s lost all their wickets for 167 runs. Saumy Pandey was the wrecker-in-chief with figures of 4/24 in 9.5 overs.

Pandey scalped the wickets of Maruf Mridha, Iqbal Hossain Emon, Ashiqur Rahman Shibli, and Chowdhur Md Rizwan to help India win the U19 World Cup 2024 match by 84 runs. In this article, we will look at the five things that fans should know about Pandey.

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#1 Saumy Pandey is the vice-captain of India in U19 World Cup 2024

Many fans would know that Uday Saharan is the skipper of the Indian team playing in the U19 World Cup 2024. However, not all of them would have an idea about the fact that Saumy is the vice-captain of the team.

Saumy also led the Boys in Blue in white-ball matches against England U-19s and Bangladesh U-19s last year. He is an important member of the leadership group.

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#2 Saumy Pandey used to fall ill often as a kid

As per the New Indian Express, Pandey used to often fall ill as a kid because of his preterm birth. His parents took him to doctors as their son regularly suffered from cold, cough and viral fever.

Most of the doctors suggested him to engage in physical activities like cycling or swimming to make his body stronger. The youngster is now playing for Team India in the U19 World Cup 2024.

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#3 Pandey's parents are teachers

Pandey's father Krishna Kumar and mother Sharmila work as government teachers. Because of their schedule, they decided to enroll Saumy in a cricket academy instead of a local gym.

Saumy joined the Vindhya Cricket Academy. His stamina and immune system gradually improved. On top of that, the training at the academy helped him become a top-quality left-arm spinner.

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#4 Saumy Pandey trained under cricket coach Aril Anthony

Aril Anthony is one of the most well-known coaches in Madhya Pradesh. Under his guidance, the likes of Ishwar Pandey and Kuldeep Sen developed their skills and earned a place in the Indian squads. Even women's cricketers Pooja Vastrakar and Nuzhat Parween have trained under him.

Now, Saumy Pandey has made it to the India U19 team after training under coach Anthony. It will be interesting to see if he can make it to the senior Indian team.

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#5 Saumy took a 6-wicket haul on South African soil last month

Generally, the conditions in South Africa help the pace bowlers. However, left-arm spinner Saumy bowled a match-winning spell of 6/29 against Afghanistan U19s during a match hosted by Johannesburg on December 29, 2023.

Saumy finished with figures of 10-1-29-6, scalping the wickets of Jamshid Zadran, Numan Shah, Rahimullah Zurmati, Nasir Hassan, Naseer Khan Maroofkhil, and Khalil Ahmed. He will be keen to replicate that performance if India meet Afghanistan later in the U19 World Cup 2024.