The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Triumphant India under-19 team returns

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 13, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Triumphant India under-19 team returns

Special Correspondent

— Photo: S.S. Kumar

THE HEROES: The victorious Indian under-19 cricket team, which arrived at the Chennai International airport from Colombo on Sunday.

Chennai: The Indian under-19 cricket team arrived here on Sunday morning after a triumphant tour of Sri Lanka.

Led by Tanmay Srivatsava, the side won the three-nation one-day series also featuring the host and Bangladesh and then defeated Sri Lanka 1-0 in the two ‘Test’ series.

The side’s coach, Lalchand Rajput, told The Hindu, “the boys have been performing consistently well. The side’s work ethics are good and they have got into the habit of winning. The batsmen were able to consolidate on starts and build big scores. Both the pacemen and the spinners were among the wickets and the side’s fielding was often brilliant.”

The Indian under-19 team, with Rajput as coach, has won the ‘Test’ and One-day series in England, New Zealand, Pakistan and now Sri Lanka. The team also emerged victorious in a quadrangular one-day competition in Malaysia.

Willingness to work

Rajput said left-handed opener Abhinav Mukund, who notched up a double hundred and a century in the second ‘Test’, had shown a willingness to work on his technique. He said Virat Kohli, who made a crucial hundred in the first ‘Test,’ was a technically sound batsman with a positive approach. Srivatsava, who skippered the side well, is another batsman with immense possibilities.

The coach had words of praise for paceman Dhaval Kulkarni, left-arm pace-bowling all-rounder Pradeep Sangwan, left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and A.P. Appanna, and off-spinner G.V.S. Prasad. He added Prasad needed to focus on the deliveries leaving the right-hander. Rajput said he had requested the Board to arrange a tour of Australia for the Indian team, ahead of the under-19 World Cup next February.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail