First Mizoram Player To Represent India: Divyansh Joshi Wants To Be Hardik Pandya's Competitor

On Monday, the junior selection panel of India released the squad for the upcoming ICC U19 World Cup 2020 with quite a few surprising names. One of those was Divyansh Joshi, who became the first Mizoram player to be named in the chart to represent Indian Cricket Team. Delighted after his ward’s selection, the happy coach of Joshi compared him to the ace all-rounder of India, Hardik Pandya.

Joshi is now the first cricketer from any of the five northeastern states to represent India in a World Cup. Though he is not the native of Mizoram, he was hired by the respective board. Earlier, the 18-year-old represented Uttar Pradesh in the U-14 and U-16 levels but was not selected for the state’s U-19 cricket matches.

Great feeling to be selected from Mizoram – Divyansh Joshi

However, the cricketer did not give up and decided to try his luck outside his home state. After he had performed well in the trials in Kolkata, Mizoram agreed to hire him in its state cricket team. Now, his incredible show in the domestic tournaments helped him to earn a ticket to South Africa for the upcoming ICC U19 World Cup.

“It is a great feeling to be selected from Mizoram. It is also an inspiration to all the people from there. Getting selected for U-14, U-16, U-19 state teams and now Indian team gives me immense pleasure,” he was quoted as saying by Deccan Chronicle.

Joshi can be next Hardik Pandya – U19 Coach

Meanwhile, coach Murtaza stated that Divyansh Joshi got the all-round skills to make things fall in place. He believes that Joshi can become the next Hardik Pandya of India with his skills. In the meantime, Divyansh Joshi, who got a down-to-earth attitude, said that there is no comparison between him and Pandya at the moment. Still, in the future, he would like to give fierce competition to Hardik Pandya.

“He can be a sensational player. I have been working with him. He can be India’s next Hardik Pandya. His future is bright and he can be an asset to any IPL team,” the coach said.

“I think Hardik Pandya is a very big player and I am nowhere near to him. But yes, I would surely like to be his competitor one day,” Joshi said.

Read More – Priyam Garg to lead India in U19 World Cup 2020

Well, it would be interesting to see how things would turn out for Divyansh Joshi. The upcoming event will be a massive help for him to showcase himself to the world with his all-round skills.