Under the leadership of talented Prithvi Shaw and guidance of the legendary cricketer  Rahul Dravid, the India U-19 team displayed dominating cricket when they won the title by beating Australia in the final in New Zealand.

The talented players like Shaw and Shubman Gill piled on the runs, as did Manjot Kalra with a century in the final, but the player who made an impact throughout the tournament was Kamlesh Nagarkoti – the speedster is a rare variety in Indian cricket just like the kind of domination his side displayed. Nagarkoti, an army kid, clocked 140+ kmph with relative ease during the World Cup.

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In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, Nagarkoti shared his experiences in New Zealand. He remembered when Dravid did not let them entertain their bold side. The fast bowler along with fellow speedster Shivam Mavi and Kalra were giving an interview atop a mountain in Queenstown and were tempted to take part in “adventure activities there”, but the coach did not allow that.

Describing the incidents, Kamlesh said, “He said the tournament was going on, and there was no point in taking any risk. He would allow us to do a few things here and there, but we had to be back in our hotel by a certain time.”

Kamlesh Nagarkoti is frightened of Dravid

Nagarkoti further went onto add that they were in fact frightened of Dravid and never thought of breaking the limitations he had put in place. He said, “Actually we were a bit scared of sir. And we thought we should not break the curfew, so we never did it. Honestly, we didn’t. Well, we did think about it a few times but then we reasoned that ‘nahi yaar, sir would have had something in mind when putting a curfew in place, so let’s follow it’, adding that he hopes to take a late night stroll in Australia sometime in the future.”

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The young pacer who will be part of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League, also revealed that his first autograph was of Rahul Dravid’s when the team was together for the Asia Cup. For the Jaipur pacer, it his father’s words of compliment after the World Cup that is the most memorable memory.

Nagarkoti is reasonably excited about making their IPL debuts, he said, “Manjot (Delhi Daredevils) was telling me ki bachke rehna, maarunga mere saamne aayega toh (Beware I will hit you when you come on to bowl at me). All of us have played against each other a lot and know each other’s games.”