The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ‘Plenty of talent in u-19 side’

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Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007
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‘Plenty of talent in u-19 side’

Special Correspondent

Chennai: The Indian under-19 cricket team coach, Lalchand Rajput, stresses three things: “Show the right attitude, play as one unit and play to win.”

“The boys should hate losing,” he adds.

The u-19 team is in Chennai, undergoing a training camp ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka, beginning on July 15. The side will play Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in a triangular under-19 one-day competition in Colombo, before taking on the host in two under-19 three day games, in Kandy and Colombo. Speaking to The Hindu here on Tuesday, Rajput said there was plenty of talent in the side.

“The idea is to produce cricketers for the Indian team. As u-19 coach, I have already given the country Ishant Sharma and Piyush Chawla. Some more from this team could go on to play for India.” In this context, he mentions the names of batsmen Tanmay Srivatsav and Virat Kohli. “Tanmay is a very positive left-hander. He is an exciting prospect, has made runs in different conditions. Kohli too is someone with ability.”

The side, Rajput says, has promising pacemen in R. Sangwan, Abu Naseem and Amanpreet Singh. He speaks highly of left-arm spinners Iqbal Abdullah and Appana. “The pitches in Lanka can be different. The ball could seam around in Kandy. There could be assistance for the spinners in Colombo. The idea is to expose these young cricketers to all conditions. They will emerge better cricketers.”

He says India should have a winning side for the Under-19 World Cup to be held in Malaysia early next year – “That is one of the goals.”

The Indian under-19 side will play a couple of practice games here before leaving for Colombo.

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