Five Indian Players Who Missed The U19 World Cup But Went On To Play For Senior Team

In our country, for a youngster who aims to make it to the Indian national team, the best possible route for him is to play the U19 World Cup. It’s a tournament that provides prodigious players massive platform to showcase their talent, and often these young guns even get picked by IPL teams as well.

All this helps them to break into the national squad, and players like Virat Kohli are living proof of that. Kohli won the U19 World Cup with Indian colts and went on to cement his place in the national team, later becoming the captain as well.

However, there are some players who for some reason fail to play for India at the U19 level. But they still manage to break their way into the national team with talent, hard work, and dedication.

Today, we’ll take a look at five such players, who could not represent India at the U19 World Cup but later went on to become key members of the national setup.

List Of Five Indian Players Who Missed The U19 World Cup But Went On To Play For Senior Team:

5) Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, at one point in time, was India’s go-to man when it came to fast bowling.

The 29-year-old could not find a place for himself in the India U19 squad, but he has worked incredibly hard to make his way to the top.

Since making his debut in December 2012, Kumar has played 21 Test matches in the Indian jersey, taking 63 wickets en route.

In ODIs, he has 114 caps and 132 wickets whereas, in T20Is, he has 41 wickets in 43 matches.

Lately, he has been out with an injury that has hampered his form a lot, but there is no doubt about the talent that Kumar has.

The right-arm pacer is a specialist when it comes it death overs and should be back in the team as soon as he gets fit.

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4) Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah like, Bhuvneshwar, failed to get into the U19 World Cup squad for India but has since gone from strength to strength.

He made his IPL bow for Mumbai Indians (MI) as a 19-year-old and has never looked back since.

Bumrah has amassed 62 wickets in 12 Test matches for India. Whereas he has 104 wickets in 61 ODI matches. In T20Is, the youngster has 47 caps in which he stumped 55 wickets.

The 26-year-old has slowly become so effective that currently he is regarded by experts as one of the best bowlers in limited-overs formats of the sport.

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3) Ajinkya Rahane

Renowned for his technical skill and ability, Ajinkya Rahane too failed to make the cut for the India U19 squad as a young player. Little did he know, life had bigger plans for him.

Rahane worked his way up the national team and is an indispensable member in the middle order of India’s Test cricket team.

In his career, he has played 63 Test matches, scoring 4112 runs at an average of 43.74.

Moreover, he has 2962 runs at an average of 35.26 in 90 ODI matches for India. In T20Is, Rahane has 20 caps, and he has scored 375 runs at an average of 20.83.

One thing that makes the 31-year-old special is that he is a consistent performer in away matches.

However, currently, he has not featured for India in limited-overs format for a long time.

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2) Gautam Gambhir

Having played a crucial role in India’s 2011 ODI World Cup triumph, as a youngster, Gambhir too missed out on the U19 World Cup team.

He redeemed himself after that setback, going on to be one of the best opening batsmen Team India has ever seen.

Statistically, the 38-year-old scored 4154 runs at an average of 41.96 in 58 Test matches.

In ODIs, his numbers read, 5238 runs scored, at an average of 39. 68 in 147 games. Whereas in T20Is he scored 932 runs, at an average of 27.41, in 37 matches.

Since retiring from cricket, Gambhir has taken to commentary and has joined politics as well.

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1) Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Widely regarded as one of the most successful captains in Indian cricket history, MS Dhoni too failed to make the cut for the U19 World Cup squad.

However, today, he is among the most decorated players of all time.

Dhoni has 4876 runs for at an average of 38.09 in 90 Test matches for team India.

Moreover, the 37-year-old scored 10,773 runs at a healthy average of 50.58 in 350 ODIs. Whereas in T20, his stats read 1617 runs at an average of 37.6 in 98 matches played.

When at his peak, the world had no better finisher than Dhoni. Unfortunately, since India’s elimination at the ICC ODI World Cup 2019, he has ruled himself out for selection to the national team.

If indeed, he retires, he will do so, as one of the most loved and appreciated cricketers of the modern game.

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