India captain Virat Kohli said that the Under-19 World Cup was an important milestone in his career as it gave him the opportunity to showcase his talent and gave him the chance to build on in his career. In 2008, Kohli led the side featuring Ravindra Jadeja and Manish Pandey to the title in Malaysia, leading by example and scoring a superb century in the group stage against the West Indies.
More importantly, then-19-year-old Kohli took two vital wickets two for 27 including the wicket of captain Kane Williamson in the semi-final win over New Zealand.
“The ICC U19 World Cup was a very important milestone in my career,” Virat Kohli — who made 235 runs at an average of 47 in 2008 was quoted as saying in an ICC media release. “It helped us get a good platform to build on and make our careers from thereon, so it holds a very important place in my mind and heart. It is very important to understand and respect the opportunity it provides to you.”
“I remember playing against Kane (Williamson). He was someone who always stood out in the team; his batting ability was very different from the other players who were around. It is good to know that so many people from that batch, like Kane and Steve Smith, have played for their respective countries,” he added.
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Priyam Garg-led Team India is all set to defend the title at the upcoming U19 World Cup scheduled to be played in South Africa from January 17 to February 9. Prior to their departure, Garg had said that there’s no pressure on him.
India, which is the most successful team in the history of the tournament have won the title under Mohammad Kaif in 2000, Virat Kohli in 2008, Unmukt Chand in 2012 and Prithvi Shaw in 2018. India have been placed alongside New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Japan in Group A and will open their tournament against Sri Lanka at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on January 19.
India U19 WC squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Priyam Garg (C), Dhruv Chand Jurel (VC & WK), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (WK), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil.
