Keep it up, boys!

The band of boys led by Uday Saharan could not go all the way in the U19 World Cup final but their effort that took India to their fifth successive final at the marquee agegroup event won hearts and held out promise of a bright future for the Fab15 Record fivetime champions India lost to Australia by 79 runs in the U19 World Cup final on SundayMidDay looks back at the journey of the squad members who made India proud at the tournamentUday Saharan Throughout the tournament the India U19 captain batted with maturity belying his age He was the fulcrum of the lineup and pulled India out of pressure situations especially in the semifinal while providing the launchpad for big totals on other occasions It was hardly a surprise that Saharan ended the tournament as the leading scorer with 397 runs and has a bright future ahead of him While growing up Saharan moved to Punjab from Ganganagar in Rajasthan to pursue his cricket careerSachin Dhas The boy from Beed in Maharashtra turned heads with his finishing skills in South Africa Named after the great Sachin Tendulkar Dhas provided India the xfactor with the bat and despite his highrisk play finished among the top five rungetters in the tournament His 96 against South Africa in the semifinal made all the difference as India stared at a heartbreaking loss after losing their first four wickets for 32 runsMusheer Khan Just like his elder brother Sarfaraz Khan who recently received his maiden Test call up Musheer likes to bat and bat long He amassed 360 runs in the tournament with two hundreds and a fifty His father Naushaad has played a massive role in the development of their cricketing careersSaumy Pandey Son of a school teacher in Bharatpur Rajasthan Saumy provided timely strikes for India in the competition with his accurate leftarm spin and ended as the sides leading wickettaker with 18 scalps His father introduced him to cricket to make him a fitter individual For someone who took up the game to beat common cold and cough Saumy has come a long wayArshin Kulkarni The allrounder from Solapur Maharashtra already had an IPL contract before he made an impact in the U19 World Cup A sweet timer of the ball Kulkarni is also more than handy with his medium pace and is dubbed as a future Hardik Pandya He opened the batting for India in the ICC eventRaj Limbani The rightarm pacer from the Rann of Kutch Limbani made an impact with the new ball He bats lefthanded and a six to get off the mark in a tense chase against South Africa helped India secure their ninth overall appearance in the final Limbani had to leave Dayapur Village in the Rann of Kutch and shift to Baroda to chase his dreamPriyanshu Moliya Like Limbani Moliya is also based in Baroda and has played seven firstclass games with the highest score of 144 not out The middleorder batter who can bowl offspin did not have much to do in South Africa with the toporder firing in most of the gamesNaman Tiwari The leftarm pacer from Lucknow is inspired by Jasprit Bumrah and learned landing his yorkers from the lead India pacer He ended up with 12 wickets in the tournament at an average of 1983 Son of an LIC agent he felt the pressure of academics growing up before choosing cricketMurugan Abhishek The young offspinner from Hyderabad looks up to R Ashwin He did not end up taking a bagful of wickets in the competition but was able to contain the flow of runsAlso ReadlsquoThricersquo as badAravelly Avanish Rao The wicketkeeperbatter is the product of an academy corun by Ravi Shastri and R Sridhar He has already made his List A debut for Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings picking him up in the recent IPL auction was a testament to his talent He belongs to Pothugal village in Rajanna Sircilla district TelanganaAdarsh Singh A feisty lefthander the Kanpur lad has consistently provided the team with strong starts His impressive knock of 76 against Bangladesh marked a perfect beginning for India in the tournament Even in the final he held his ground with a fighting 47 off 77 ballsBehind Adarshs cricket journey lies a story of sacrifices made by his family Despite facing adversity during the COVID19 pandemic where both his father and brother lost their jobs the family ensured that Adarshs cricketing pursuits continued To support him they even sold a plot of landRudra Patel He could not get an opportunity to play in the tournament He captained Gujarat to the Under16 state championship title He then led his state in the U19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy and came to limelight scoring three centuries in a row including a double century against Himachal PradeshInnesh Mahajan He was the reserve wicketkeeper of the squad and didnt get an opportunity with Avanish stealing the show A fan of MS Dhoni Innesh bats lefthanded and hails from NoidaDhanush Gowda The rising pacer from Bengaluru wants to follow the footsteps of Javagal Srinath and R Vinay Kumar He didnt get many opportunities to showcase his skills but is determined to make it big as his father failed to pursue his cricketing dream while injuries ruined the career of his elder brotherAaradhya Shukla Son of a mathematics teacher the Ludhiana boy took up sports with an aim to grow taller He impressed in the CK Nayudu Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy to be picked for the Indian teamWith agency inputs