Cricket is elsewhere — Welcome home the heroes

The body language of the seniors was one of despair; of resignation. And the juniors: confident young men, who knew they were giving 110 per cent. And, for the fans switching between the two channels, it was like swinging between agony and ecstasy.

Rather than weep over the Tendulkars, Gangulys and Dravids of Indian cricket, it is time to savour a special moment. It is time to laud our world champions, so what if the commentators don’t know if the best batsman of the World Youth Cup is Ravneet Ricky or Ranveet or Ranjeet Ricky or the man of the tournament is Yuvraj Singh or Yuveraj Singh.

Never mind, we will soon get their names right when they come home with the Cup they won at Colombo today. Forget for a moment the thrashing the senior team has been receiving in Australia, and you will be proud to know that this is a hat-trick of world titles for Indian cricket.

Most members of this squad had hardly had their lesson in the game, when Kapil’s Devils became Lords of The Lord’s in ’83. But their coach, Roger Binny, knows how it felt that summer evening. The Lord’s was once again the lucky venue for India in ’96 when three of the current side, skipper Mohammad Kaif, Reetinder Sodhi and Ravneet Ricky, strung together another dream: this time at the Lombard Schools (under-15) World Cup. And today, this trio and eight others, not to speak of the bench, scripted another memorable chapter in Indian cricket as they annihilated hosts Sri Lanka at Colombo’s Sinhalese Sports Club.

Somehow this side reminds one of the 1983 world champs. And also highlights everything that seems to wrong with the seniors in Australia. This youth side is overflowing with all-rounders — wicket-keeper Ajay Ratra, a frontline batsman for Haryana in Ranji Trophy batted at number eight or nine — they were not dependant on a handful of individuals. They fielded like tigers, throwing themselves at the ball, not scared to dirty their flannels, broke stumps with direct throws and held amazing catches. Little wonder then four Sri Lankan batsmen were run out in the final. The top order never let the side down and the middle and the lower-middle order knew exactly how to give finishing touches to the innings. There seemed to be a bowler for every occasion and Kaif, as a skipper, showed maturity way beyond his years.

They clicked as a team, and yet excelled with strong individual showings. Three of the four Punjab lads in the side bagged individual prizes. Apart from Ricky and Yuvraj, the ever-learning-ever-trying Patiala-based allrounder Sodhi was the man of the finals. The fourth, Munish Sharma, lost out on the best batsman’s award to his own teammate Ricky! Talk of healthy rivalry in the team.

Coach Roger Binny, an important member of 1983 side, feels, “There are at least three, four guys who can make it to the senior team.” He picks up Kaif, Sodhi and Ratra as good prospects and then adds, “Yuvraj is exceptional. He can play for India (senior) right now.” Binny is right. A lot will be heard in future about Yuvraj. Indian cricket could do with some enterprise and energy, which this lad seems to have in abundance.

For the Amritsar opener Ricky it was a triumph of will. He was not included in the list of 24 probables but was then brought in as a last-minute entrant to the team after scoring tons of runs in the zonal tourney. A snub alright for the detractors, but thankfully the mistake was rectified in time.

Sodhi very nearly broke down when he missed the India A’s tour of the West Indies in November, but was aware of this Youth Cup coming up: “I hope I do something for the team,” he had said on the tournament-eve camp at Chennai. Somehow, big stage always seems to turn him on — he was man of the finals against Pakistan in the Schools Cup, too.

Kaif made it big after his consistent batting in the last Under-19 World Cup in South Africa. He may not have scored many runs this time but the wristy Uttar Pradesh batsman could be a worthy successor to Mohammad Azharuddin, whose copy he looks while batting.

Former India captain, Bishan Singh Bedi says these colts have the right attitude. “They have the spark and the maturity. They just need to keep a cool head and strive for better things. Yes, these are the stars of the future. Indian cricket is looking up to them for its redemption.”