OPINION
Follow UsMarch 23, 2021, Cross Maidan, Mumbai. Sanjeevani Cricket Academy, playing their first match in the YGCL Championship, were in a fix after choosing to bat first against Nerul Gymkhana Cricket Academy. They had lost four wickets with 31 runs on the board by the ninth over. There were 31.4 overs to bat in the innings and SCA looked nowhere close to batting the full quota. Angkrish Raghuvanshi, with Sidid Tiwari at the other end, set out to flip the script.
Over the next 22 overs, Tiwari played the supporting role with 80-ball 84 while Raghuvanshi starred with 143 off just 75 balls, scoring eight sixes and 17 boundaries. The partnership ballooned to 212 runs as SCA put up 305/8 in the regulation 40 overs.
Building partnerships and playing counterattacking cricket has been Raghuvanshi’s modus operandi ever since he set foot in Mumbai’s Maidan cricket and the Under 19 World Cup in the Caribbean was no different. The 16-year old smashed a scintillating 144 off 120 balls in the last group game against Uganda while stitching a partnership of 206 runs with Raj Bawa, the highest ever for India in the Under 19 World Cup history. Their record partnership also helped India post a mammoth 405/5, their second highest total in the tournament’s history.
Raghuvanshi, who is the youngest member of the India Under 19 squad, played a knock that had the learnings from the Mumbai maidans where young batters are first taught to survive good balls before perfecting their full array of shots. Uganda, who were playing their first major tournament at junior level since 2006, had talented bowlers who could seam the ball at good pace. Opening alongside Harnoor Singh, Raghuvanshi left the good ones, defended the ones on the off stump and was cautious approaching the leg stump with a cross bat. The approach was also in line with VVS Laxman’s advise to respect the opposition no matter who it was.
Lack of experience also meant Ugandan bowlers were less disciplined and Raghuvanshi had no qualms dispatching the loose deliveries. His cover drives had the explosiveness of his mentor Abhishek Nayar, who was instrumental in helping him shift base from Delhi to Mumbai. Although he had four of sixes in the midwicket region, Raghuvanshi displayed great control and balance while scoring runs square of the wicket. He has great authority while playing on the back foot, which drew comparisons with senior team’s white-ball captain Rohit Sharma.
“When you see him batting in full flow, you feel that you’re watching a young Rohit Sharma. The way he pulls, hits it over covers, reminds you of Rohit in his early days. From what we saw of him in the selection matches and for the Mumbai Under-19 team, he’s has time to play his strokes. He’s has beautiful hands, plays well off the backfoot and plays the ball late,” Mumbai Under 19 chief selector Atul Ranade told Times of India in a recent interview.
Before the match against India, Uganda had conceded the least number of boundaries in the entire tournament in 31 fours and 4 sixes. Raghuvanshi matched the number of sixes with his innings alone and clobbered 22 fours which were distributed all around the park. During the 38 overs he was at the crease, Raghuvanshi had few lapses of concentration and was battling discomfort in his lower back. While batting on 94, Bawa was overheard on the stump mic telling his younger partner to stay focussed on the task at hand.
Raghuvanshi was quick to follow the advise and resorted to slogging only after Bawa was well set and India neared 300. Besides playing a big innings and shattering records, the youngster’s reaction was measured when asked if it was easy batting against a minnow like Uganda.
“We don’t see them as minnows at all. We only want to play well and we are glad we have scored enough runs and I am glad to have scored a hundred,” Raghuvanshi told commentator Deep Dasgupta during the innings break.
Irrespective of India’s fate in the competition, Raghuvanshi will be expected to make the transition to the next level. The teenager has the talent to show as he made it to Mumbai Cricket Association’s Under 19 team within three years since he moved to the city in 2016.
Though he will eligible to play next year’s Under 19 World Cup in India, he might not be picked for the side due to the sheer number of youngsters coming through the ranks. In recent times, Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill have graduated to the senior ranks following their exploits at Under 19 level. And Raghuvanshi, born to parents who have represented India in tennis and basketball at the national level, has the right mentality and support system to make it big.
