Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the ex-cricketer and current head coach of the Indian U19 team, is confident that at least two players from the U19 World Cup 2024 squad will perform admirably in both the IPL and the senior Indian team.
Despite the loss to Australia in the final by 79 runs, Kanitkar is pleased with how numerous players demonstrated resilience and excelled under pressure throughout the tournament.
Kanitkar conveyed to reporters during the post-match press conference:
“Definitely (the future of India is very bright). As a bowling side and as a batting side, there have been stand-out performances by quite a few players. They have shown maturity in tough situations and that bodes well for Indian cricket. Everytime time there are a couple of guys who step up either in the IPL or the Indian team. I’m sure there will be a couple, but there is great competition back home.”
Uday Saharan accumulated 397 runs in the competition, the highest among all players. Saumy Pandey emerged as India’s leading wicket-taker with 18 dismissals, closely following South Africa’s Kwena Maphaka (21) on the leaderboard.
Hrishikesh Kanitkar’s thoughts on how the U19 World Cup benefits young Indian players
Hrishikesh Kanitkar also thinks that confronting crucial situations in the U19 World Cup will be advantageous for the players in the future. He further commented:
“For the players’ great journey, everything is highlighted, these performances matter, they are under the scanner. They get used to these situations. They know what to expect and are prepared when they play higher cricket.”
India also faced defeat in the final of the preceding U19 World Cup held in South Africa in 2020 against Bangladesh. That generation introduced talents such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, and Ravi Bishnoi to the Men in Blue squad.
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