Mumbai: Being India’s Under-19 captain is a double-edged sword. The chosen one has the chance to become a household name quickly, but there’s also the added scrutiny a teenager might never have experienced before.
This time, the baton has been handed to YashDhull, the Delhi middle-order batter who very few people outside the capital would have heard of until India’s squad was announced for the Under-19 Asia Cup late last year.
With Covid-19 ravaging domestic cricket in India, selectors have had to rely on a very limited set of data points to make their decisions. Something about Dhull must have made them get excited. What was it?”The primary quality that you need is to have the respect of your players,” HrishikeshKanitkar, the India Under-19 coach, said on the eve of the start of the 2022 Under-19 World Cup.
“Without that, you can be a good player but you won’t be able to do your job as a captain. That’s what Yash has got – he’s got the respect of the team. The other strength is that he is fluid in situations, he is able to take tough calls on the field when it’s needed.
Every time when fielding, when a captain goes in, he can’t be told to do things like in school cricket. He needs to make those decisions and Yash is up for it. He backs himself and does what that situation needs from him. He is pretty instinctive, and his instincts are fine-tuned for this job.” It is an undeniable fact that India’s legacy at the competition is the strongest with four championship wins, three runners-up finishes and two semi-final exits.
