There are also peculiarities attached to the Under-19 World Cup, where some of the cricketers born in one country switched over later on to play Tests, ODIs or Twenty20 Internationals for another country. The prime examples of this bizarre occurrence are the New Zealand-born England star paceman Andrew Caddick as well as the South Africa-born trio of Grant Elliott, Craig Kieswetter and Jonathan Trott. The recently-retired South African spinner Imran Tahir chose to represent his adopted country only after playing for Pakistan at the under-19 level and before going on to play for many sides in Pakistani domestic tournaments — until he sensed he wouldn’t get the opportunity to turn out at the top level for the nation he was born in.
It is generally considered unwise to predict the eventual winners of a forthcoming Under-19 World Cup because the composition of competing teams is rated as an untrustworthy source of information. Almost every major side — more or less — head into the tournament as ‘favourites’.
But of late, India have emerged as a powerhouse at the under-19 level, as testified by their lifting the trophy in three of the last six competitions. Pakistan, on the other hand, do have the potential to go all the way, but their prospects are somewhat diminished by the ‘forced’ absence of the teenage pace sensation Nasim Shah, despite apparently meeting all the requisites. Shah was pulled from the Under-19 team on the recommendation of senior team coaches Waqar Younis and Misbahul Haq.
So who are going to be the next generation of superstars to come through this process of graduation? The previous events have already witnessed players such as Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Shoaib Malik, Bazid Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abdul Razzaq, Danish Kaneria, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Salman Butt, Imam-ul-Haq and Shadab Khan, all progressing to the senior team.
Their contemporaries in other teams at different phases are luminaries such as Brian Lara, Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Sanath Jayasuriya, Graeme Smith, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy, senior World Cup-winning skippers Eoin Morgan and Michael Clarke, Lasith Malinga, Chris Cairns, Hashim Amla, Steve Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Alastair Cook, Brendon McCullum, Graeme Swann, Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Trent Boult.
Some of the youngsters to watch out this time are Pakistan captain Rohail Nazir, his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg, Haider Ali (Pakistan), Qasim Akram (Pakistan) — an ambitious cricketer who aims to become the world’s best batsman — Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan), Akbar Ali (Bangladesh), Tawhid Hridoy (Bangladesh), Jake Fraser-McGurk (Australia), Mackenzie Harvey (Australia), Liam Scott (Austalia), Ben Charlesworth (England), Hamidullah Qadri (England) and Gerald Coetzee (South Africa).
The writer is a member of staff
Published in Dawn, EOS, January 12th, 2020