Sharath heaps praise on victorious India U-19 team

Sridharan Sharath said India's win against Ireland in the U-19 World Cup was the most satisfying victory, given the COVID-19 hit side had only 11 fit players.

Sridharan Sharath is the chairman of the India U-19 selection panel.

It was a different era when Sridharan Sharath turned out for India Under-19 along with Rahul Dravid. 

Dravid went on to become a world batting legend while Sharath evolved into a domestic run-making giant.

Now when Sharath is the chairman of the India U-19 selection panel, Dravid is the head coach of the senior Indian team, having earlier headed the NCA before passing the baton to V.V.S. Laxman.

In developing the current bunch of India U-19 cricketers, who won the World Cup in the Caribbean on Saturday, the three of them worked magic.

Sharath said in a conversation with Sportstar on Sunday, “This team has won both the Asia Cup and World Cup. It’s a tremendous achievement.”

He added, “Just consider how little age-group cricket has been played in the last two years because of COVID-19.”

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Sharath said, “Only this year we conducted the Vinoo Mankad tournament. Then we carved out six Challenger Trophy teams. We had a pool of 90 players. Given the circumstances, selecting the India team was a challenging task.”

Ask Sharath about his most satisfying win in India’s memorable U-19 World Cup campaign and he responds, “The game against Ireland. The team was hit by COVID. There were only 11 fit players available. The team fought heroically.”

Given that Sharath, as chairman of the Tamil Nadu selection panel, had developed a good working relationship with Hrishikesh Kanitkar, then State team coach, he found it easy to communicate with Kanitkar, now the India U-19 coach.

Sharath said, “He has a clarity of thought. Doesn’t speak much. Hrishikesh, V.V.S. Laxman, who travelled with the team, and myself had some very useful conversations during the tournament.”

Asked about promising Indian players emerging from the competition, Sharath said, “Shaik Rashid, Yash Dhull, Raj Bawa, Nishanth Sindhu, Vicky Oberoi, Dinesh Bana and many others. Their next task will be graduating to first class cricket.”

Sharath said, “I want to thank the BCCI for giving me this opportunity. You get so much joy and satisfaction when the team triumphs.”