Behind U19 World Cup title, it was COVID-19 and family's hardships that stood as obstacles

Every Indian felt proud when India lifted their fifth ICC Men's U19 Cricket World Cup title after their assertive victory over England in the West Indies. Claiming the title in the four-wicket win, Yash Dhull's side were dominant in proceedings, just like they were throughout the previous matches at the tournament.

 

India came into the tournament with good momentum on their side, winning the U19 Asia Cup in December 2021 and carrying it all the way to the final of the World Cup. However, behind this dominant victory, there lot of obstacles that stood in their way to their glory. Team India had to overcome hurdles to become the first team in U19 Men's Cricket World Cup history to lay their hands on the trophy five times.

 

 

 

It was not an easy road for the Indian team. It became so difficult for the team that at one point in the tournament they had a tough time even picking a playing XI after several players tested positive for COVID-19 including the captain and vice-captain.

 

 

Though the team started positively by winning the first natch against Proteas, it wasn't an easy victory. The Indian team was bowled out for a meager 232 in the 47th overs, with skipper Yash Dhull playing the lone warrior with an innings of 82 before getting run out. Apart from Dhull, vice-captain Shaik Rasheed and Kaushal Tambe made important 30s. However, it was the bowlers that came to India’s rescue and managed to bowl out the South Africans for only 187, eventually winning the game by 45 runs.

 

 

Team India was restrcited to only 10 players just after the first game. Five players in the 16-member Indian squad tested positive for coronavirus and it became very difficult for the management to field an XI. Had one more member of the squad tested positive, it would have even led to the team's disqualification for inability to field an XI. The Indian team played its next two games against Ireland and Uganda without the services of its original captain Dhull and vice-captain Rasheed, under the leadership of Nishant Sindhu. Sindhu led India brilliantly against Ireland and Uganda, but a day before the quarterfinal against Bangladesh, he tested positive, too.

 

 

Dhull’s deputy, Rasheed, broke down while talking to his coach J Krishna Rao. His words were: “Sir, I think my World Cup is over. I might not recover for the knockouts.” His father Balisha lost jobs, could hardly sustain the family at times, and had to move cities, but he kept his son’s cricket dream alive.

 

 

The cricket academy where Rasheed was in Mangalgiri, some 50 kilometers from his home in Guntur. He rarely missed a day’s practice because his father, Shaik Balisha, used to ferry him the entire distance on his scooter. Every single day. Rain or shine, heat or dust—Guntur can be scorching hot in summers but nothing mattered to him. His hard work paid off!

 

 

The Delhi-born lad was the youngest in the squad. He had moved to Mumbai with his brother and left Gurgaon at the age of 11. His brother, now a tennis player, was diagnosed with blood cancer when he was a toddler. “Angkrish used to sleep with us in hospitals. Those five years were the most dreadful. He would never leave his baby brother alone,” says mother Malika, who is in Spain’s Mallorca, where her younger son is competing in a junior tournament. The opener amassed 278 runs in the tournament.

 

 

 

Sindhu, who showed remarkable composure under pressure in the final, is the son of a boxer who had to give up his career due to family circumstances. He wanted Nishant to be a boxer too. That didn't come to fruition, but Nishant was a fighter alright — he took on the captaincy of the side when Dhull and Rasheed were forced into quarantine. In the final too, with the side in trouble after a nervy few wickets, he steadied the ship with a fighting half-century.

 

 

Remember the wicket-keeper Bana, who finished the final with back-to-back sixes! Though the image of a wicketkeeper clinching the World Cup would seem familiar to Indian fans, Bana was not even the first choice. It was during the India B vs India F game in the Challengers Trophy that his friend Sindhu informed him: “The U-19 selectors will be here to watch our match today.” Bana’s reply was: “Tu bas six count karna aaj mere (You just count my sixes today).” Bana smashed a 98-ball 170, including 10 fours and 14 sixes.

 

 

Due to COVID-19, the captain changed, the vice-captain changed, the team dynamics changed. They literally had to scratch the bottom of the barrel to put out 11 players for a couple of games. While parents from South Africa, England, Australia and a few other teams accompanied their wards to provide emotional support, the Indian players relied on their teammates. As Dhull said at a press conference: “The Covid outbreak in the camp only made them more determined to win the Cup.”