DOMINANT INDIA
Follow UsIndia only had 11 fit players for their game against Ireland on Wednesday (January 19) after six of their players, including their regular skipper Yash Dhull and vice-captain Shaik Rasheed, were put in isolation ahead of their second-league stage encounter of the 2022 Under-19 World Cup. Apart from Dhull and Rasheed, close friends Aaradhya Yadav and Siddarth Yadav too tested positive for Covid, while Vasu Vats and Manav Parakh were asked to isolate as a precautionary measure after showing symptoms for the virus. India lost four of their frontline batters and had to make do with whatever resources they had in their arsenal.
The opening combination of Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Harnoor Singh remained intact but India had to field six all-rounders and two seamers in their playing XI, not that they had any choice. In Nishant Sindhu, they already had a proven captain. The spin-bowling all-rounder played a huge role in Haryana clinching the last edition of the Vinoo Mankad Trophy - their first U-19 title in 19 years. It was also under his leadership, Haryana won the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy in 2019. All things happening off the field hardly made any difference as India put on a clinical show at the picturesque Brian Lara Stadium and clobbered Ireland by 174 runs to qualify for the next round.
Raghuvanshi, Harnoor show their class
Although India registered a comfortable 45-run victory over South Africa in their opening encounter in the tournament, their top batters barring Dhull struggled to get going under testing conditions. Dhull (82) and Rasheed (31) scored almost 50 percent of the total runs against South Africa, but with both of them not available for the Ireland game, there was extra pressure on openers Raghuvanshi and Harnoor to score big. The two were dismissed inside six overs against South Africa but redeemed themselves in some style on Wednesday. The two openers pounced on some ordinary bowling from Ireland and put on 164 runs in just 25.4 overs.
Raghuvanshi didn't allow Ireland spinners Matthew Humphreys and Nathan McGuire to settle in, while Harnoor took the attack to the two seamers Muzamil Sherzad and Liam Doherty. The Ireland bowlers bowled way too many hit-me deliveries in the first half of the innings and these two pounced on every single one of them. Raghuvanshi smashed 10 fours and two maximums in his run-a-ball 79 and all these boundaries came against spinners, while Harnoor crafted 88 off 101 deliveries, decorated with 12 fours. The stylish left-handed batter from Punjab played quite a few of his trademark flick shots, with nine of his 12 boundaries coming against fast bowlers.
Harnoor comes from a proper cricketing family, with his grandfather Rajinder Singh and uncle Harminder Singh having played Ranji Trophy for Punjab. On top of that, his father Birinder Singh also represented the state at the U-19 level. Meanwhile, Raghuvanshi is only 16 but has made quite a name for himself in junior cricket. The world got a glimpse of his talent when they got to watch him bat in the final of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka, but he looked even better on Wednesday. Born in Delhi, Raghuvanshi moved to Mumbai at the age of 11 to train under former India all-rounder Abhishek Nayar and bats with that typical “Mumbai-khadoos” mentality.
This is the second time these two have put on 100 runs for the opening wicket, having recently added 104 runs against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. The gulf between the two teams was quite visible at the Brian Lara Stadium. The Ireland bowlers struggled big time with consistency and Raghuvanshi and Harnoor hardly had to break a sweat to keep the scoring rate above six till they were at the crease. With Dhull and Rasheed not available, Raghuvanshi and Harnoor could have easily taken a defensive route, but such was not the case.
The hype around Hangargekar is real
The cricketing world also got a glimpse of why everyone in the Indian circuit is so excited about Rajvardhan Hangargekar. It’s not surprising that Hangargekar has already made his List A and T20 debut for Maharashtra. You have a well-built fast bowler who can also smash sixes down the order, that’s a rare breed in Indian cricket. In the game against Ireland, India lost a bit of momentum in the second half of the innings. Promoted at No. 3, Raj Bawa (64-ball 42) failed to bat with the same intensity. India were 162/0 in 25 overs but lost four wickets and could only score 109 runs in the next 23 overs.
In the history of the Under-19 World Cup, India had lost only one of their 30 encounters where they had scored more than 230. So, they already had enough runs on the board but Hangargekar had a point to prove, especially after getting dismissed for a golden duck against South Africa. The right-handed dasher smoked five sixes and a four in his 17-ball 39* and helped India cross the 300-run mark. Ireland seamer Muzamil Sherzad took three wickets but was smashed for three consecutive sixes and a four in the final over.
* Sherzad comes from Afghanistan's Jalalabad and has already gone through a lot. The right-arm paceman, who is a massive fan of Brett Lee, crossed the borders of Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Italy and France along with other immigrants to reach Ireland. He was only 14 and it took him almost nine months and had to travel close to 8,300 kms to find his uncle who worked at a fast-food outlet in Ireland. All Sherzad had with him was some home-cooked food and 50 Euros. He finally made it to Ireland, and fast forward four-five years, here he is living his dream.
Coming back to Hangargekar, the paceman started his career as an offspinner for the Osmanabad district U-14 team but had to switch to fast bowling as his side didn't have a proper pacer. He worked under coach Mohan Jadhav in Pune and trainer-cum-mentor Tejas Matapurkar at the Veerangan Cricket Academy and soon started clicking 140 kmph. Known as Marathwada Express, Hangargekar likes bowling short and fast and that's exactly what he did against Ireland.
The Ireland top-order looked clueless against his pace and bounce and had to just play him out. Hangargekar, who enjoys bringing the ball back into right-handers, pinned Jack Dickson right in front of the stumps after his new-ball partner Ravi Kumar got rid of Doherty in the fourth over. Hangargekar could only take one wicket but conceded just 17 runs in his seven overs. His genuine pace was enthralling to see.
Now, some of the IPL franchises will already have their eyes set on the flamboyant fast-bowling all-rounder and don’t be surprised if he goes for a lot of money in the next month’s mega auction. The likes of Garv Sangwan, Aneeshwar Gautam and Kaushal Tambe too managed to make an impact with the ball, but they were hardly tested against Ireland batters.
India haven't lost a group-stage game since losing to West Indies in the first match of the 2012 Under-19 World Cup. Since then, they have won all of their 16 league-stage encounters and that tells you some story. The Boys in Blue are through to the quarterfinals and if they can keep playing to their potential, there is not a single team in the tournament who can challenge them.
