India U-19 head coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar is confident that at least couple of players from the 2024 batch will go on to play for the senior team. Although five-time champions India lost the final to Australia by 79 runs, players like skipper Uday Saharan, Musheer Khan, Saumy Pandey and Sachn Dhas were impressive throughout the tournament. “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,” Kanitkar said at the post-match press conference on Sunday.
The Indian team has always been an age-group powerhouse and the U-19 World Cup has presented stars like Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal to name a few.
“Every time 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,” Kanitkar added.
Squad members Arshin Kulkarni and Avanish Rao went into the U-19 World Cup having already secured IPL contracts.
Kanitkar feels playing in the U-19 World Cup provides the players with an insight into how playing at the senior level is.
“For the players great journey, everything is highlighted, these performances matter, they are under the scanner. They get used to these situations. The know what expect and are prepared when they play higher cricket,” said the 49-year-old head coach.
