There will be youngsters galore in the forthcoming ICC World Cup.

Though we will witness the class, finesse and power of the likes of A.B. De Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Chris Gayle, Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, M.S. Dhoni, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, several promising rookies will get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to showcase their promise at the spectacle and lead their team to win the coveted title.

If we keep the maximum age limit of 28 years (with variance of 1 year) as the criterion, then these gifted cricketers can be split into new and established.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, Eoin Morgan, Angelo Mathews and Shakib-al-Hasan have demonstrated their quality game in recent years. On the other hand, Quinton de Kock, Joe Root, Matt Henry, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Williamson, Jason Holder can all be framed in the ‘new’ class of youngsters seeking to come out with flying colours in Australia and New Zealand.

Read: Sohail makes surprise return as selectors name five pacers in World Cup squad

Focusing on Pakistan’s scenario, we have as many as seven players who can be placed under this ‘new’ youngsters category for us in the World Cup brigade. They are: Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shehzad, Yasir Shah, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohaib Maqsood and Ehsan Adil who all will be looking to blossom during the extravaganza.

The 32-year-old Mohammad Irfan, Pakistan’s key weapon in their pace armour, arrived at the international stage quite late, and due to his age and brief experience in world cricket, we can neither place him in the established category nor in the ‘new youngster’ class.

Tall pacer Sohail Khan, 30, whose out-of-nowhere return to international cricket for the World Cup proved almost all selection predictions wrong, could be a surprise package in the mega event. But again he cannot be framed in the ‘young’ class.

Apart from Sohail, Irfan and Shehzad, all the remaining six players mentioned above, will be donning Pakistan colours for the first time in a World Cup. The average age of the ‘new’ players is 25 years. With much of the 15-member party having no World Cup experience whatsoever, will the recipe work for Pakistan in Australia and New Zealand?

The answer is: it is much more beneficial to test the new resources rather than looking to recycle the assets that have either long burned out or were never of any use. If Misbah and company — courtesy a couple of youngsters — take a crunch World Cup encounter say against India, Australia or South Africa down to the wire, one reckons it will be fantastic. Match result in this case will not matter, but top-notch efforts will. And these efforts can be duly expected to come from a capable and enthusiastic young player, and not from an old, lethargic and unqualified performer.

Amid all speculative media reports doing the rounds leading up to the announcement of the final 15-member World Cup team, it was satisfying to see Moin Khan and his selection team making the right call in the end. Whether or not someone prevented unqualified and faltering players like Shoaib Malik and Sohail Tanvir from getting picked for the game’s most prestigious competition, the final 15 selected just about fitted the bill.

The 2015 World Cup will not be the end of the world; we will surely need some of the players named in the World Cup squad for our cricket ahead and a timely investment in these rising players will pay off.

We already have several examples in this regard among the Australia-New Zealand-bound players. First Shehzad and Junaid, and now Sarfraz, Yasir and Haris. Shehzad has only matured to make his mark in all three formats while Junaid, despite his injury issues, bowls his heart out and has now become a reliable cog in Pakistan bowling attack.

Sarfraz had been waiting for ages but finally done justice last year and ever since that Sri Lanka tour, he has been phenomenal both as gloveman as well as a highly aggressive and useful batsman under testing situations.

Yasir mesmerised the mighty Aussies in the UAE Test rubber and many looked at him as a possible replacement to the experienced Saeed Ajmal. Haris, holding a striking domestic record and after having waited in the wings for long, at last got the chance to display his temperament in the New Zealand ODIs, and he did it in style.

Earlier, Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali — two important batsmen of the Test side but not part of the World Cup party — also showed their mettle in their own copybook manner. Not to forget all-rounder Anwar Ali who showed flashes of brilliance in recent times.

Talking specifically of the upcoming World Cup, it is no secret that several World Cups have been won when some youngsters along with their senior pros excelled for the team. When the great Viv Richards dazzled the West Indies retained the World Cup title in 1979; Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram, Aamir Sohail, Mushtaq Ahmed and Aaqib Javed were all young guns when Imran Khan lifted the Waterford glass trophy in 1992; Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana set the tone as dashing young openers when Sri Lanka seized the 1996 World Cup.

All this shows that young players have a major role to play in the World Cup. If Pakistan cricket is to move ahead, upholding of merit and prompt grooming of the players is imperative. Our nation with a heavy heart may tolerate the failure of the young guns in the World Cup, but had we preferred spent forces like Malik, Kamran Akmal, Imran Farhat and others, the fans would never have pardoned the Board or the selectors in case of an unfavourable result.

Hopefully, our youngsters will stand up and deliver alongside their seniors in Australia and New Zealand and if they do, Pakistan may well repeat the 1992 feat.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2015

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