da betway： Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, bothmembers of the victorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tankthat would be hard to beat
da dobrowin： Partab Ramchand19-Jan-2002A little-known fact about Indian cricket is that the country’s youngtalents in various age groups have really proved their mettle at theinternational level. Aside from the under-19 team winning the World Cuptwo years ago in Sri Lanka, the under-15 team lifted the World Cup inEngland in 1996. The under-17 team won the Asian Championship last year.Somehow, though, this supremacy is lost during the transition to thesenior ranks. But the juniors have certainly covered themselves withglory in bringing laurels to the nation.
Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, bothmembers of the victorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tankthat would be hard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, andVengsarkar has spent a lot of time with the boys, giving them the fulladvantage of his considerable experience.
These thoughts come to mind as the Indian lads are now in New Zealand totake part in the under-19 World Cup competition. As the well-knownsporting adage goes, it is hard to get to the top, but harder to staythere. Indian cricket authorities are well aware of the truth behindthis adage and have left no stone unturned in preparing their squad todefend a title that they won in Sri Lanka in January 2000.For one thing, the training sessions for the 26 probables were long andsystematic. For example, coach Balwinder Singh Sandhu was well awarethat the lads would encounter considerable lateral movement in NewZealand, where the World Cup is to be staged between January 19 andFebruary 10. So this was among the specifics that went into thetraining. Then, after a long stint at the National Cricket Academy inBangalore, the squad travelled to Chennai to play three practicematches.Unfortunately this aspect of the training was hit by rain, but theenthusiastic lads made the best of the truncated opportunities. Further,the selected squad of 14 first went to Australia for a nine-day tour,during which they played – and lost – two practice games before leavingfor New Zealand. But most important of all, the authorities, underliningthe importance of defending the title, have done well in appointingformer Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar as consultant.Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, both members of thevictorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tank that would behard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, and Vengsarkar has spenta lot of time with the boys, giving them the full advantage of hisconsiderable experience. The boys certainly do not have to look too farfor inspiration.The squad, led by Parthiv Patel of Gujarat, is nicely balanced, but onlytime will tell whether it is good enough to retain the Cup it won twoyears ago. Vengsarkar, however, is in no doubt that the team is strongenough to retain the title. “The confidence level of the squad is prettyhigh, and they have trained strenuously. We have a couple of fine allrounders and a good attack, both spin and medium pace,” Vengsarkar saidin Chennai recently. He was of the view that the under-19 age group heldthe key to the future of Indian cricket. This viewpoint is difficult todisagree with, especially when one considers that players like YuvrajSingh, Mohammad Kaif and Reetinder Singh Sodhi, all members of thatvictorious squad in Sri Lanka, went on to play for India within a shortperiod.Vengsarkar said that the youngsters should be nurtured to fill the gapsin the Indian side and for this, the proper exposure would be to makethem play in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England. Whiletalking with confidence about the Indian team’s chances in New Zealand,the former star batsman, who scored 6,868 runs in 116 Test matches andis also the only non-Englishman to score three Test hundreds at Lord’s,felt that Australia and South Africa would be the teams to beat. Thingsare not very different even at the junior levels, are they?
