U-19 World Cup: Curbed Raj’s bowling to focus on batting, reveals dad

Raj, whose grandfather Tarlochan Singh Bawa was a member of India’s maiden Olympic gold medal-winning hockey team at the 1948 London Games, was a good all-rounder when he started out

All-Rounder Raj Angad Bawa claimed 5-31 with his pace bowling and scored a vital 35 as India beat England by four wickets to win the U-19 World Cup final at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday.

Interestingly however, Bawa, who earned the Player of the Match award in the summit clash, was actually stopped from bowling till the age of 16, revealed his father and coach, Sukhwinder Bawa, a former Haryana U-19 fast bowler. Raj, whose grandfather Tarlochan Singh Bawa was a member of India’s maiden Olympic gold medal-winning hockey team at the 1948 London Games, was a good all-rounder when he started out.

“Raj was good at both batting and bowling, but I stopped him from bowling when he was around 13. His action was good and I thought he could bowl well at any stage later. I wanted to build his temperament as a batsman and so I groomed him accordingly. He scored a lot of runs, including a double century at the U-14 level. He resumed bowling when he was 16,” Sukhwinder told mid-day from Chandigarh on Sunday.

Bawa was India’s second highest run-getter (252 runs) after opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi (278) and took nine wickets at the World Cup. “There are some players, who give their best in pressure situations and others who perform in comfortable conditions. I told Raj to give his 100 per cent whenever the team needs it. And right enough, he has performed well at a crucial stage and in a big game,” added Sukhwinder.

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