Hyderabad: The Indian colts marched on to the finals of the 2020 Under-19 cricket World Cup on the basis of their strong performance. The team entered the final for a record seventh time by defeating their arch-rivals Pakistan by 10 wickets in the semi-finals.
Now on Sunday, the youngsters are set to face Bangladesh in the all-important final of the World Cup. The Indian colts have so worked extremely hard to reach to this level. Tagged as favourites in the ongoing World Cup even before they played their first match in the tournament, the players in the team have gone through many hardships to reach to this level.
Lets delve into the past of some of the young stars who will walk in the field on Sunday, trying to help India win their record fifth World Cup title.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Yashaswi Jaiswal, a resident of Bhadohi in Uttar Pradesh, had to leave his home and come to Mumbai to pursue his cricketing career. He faced many difficulties whilst in Mumbai and had to even sell Panipuri due to being short of money.
However, the left-handed opener never gave up and through his hard work made it to the squad of Indian under-19 team. He has performed exceptionally well in the ongoing World Cup wherein he has amassed 312 runs in 5 matches with an outstanding average of 156. Yashasvi currently tops the leading scorer charts in the World Cup and also has one century in his kitty that came in the semi-final clash against Pakistan.
Priyam Garg
The journey of the career of Indian U-19 captain Priyam Garg, who lives in Meerut, has also been full of struggles. His father has worked very hard to fulfill his dreams. To handle the household financially, his father devoted his life to fulfill his son's dream by selling milk, newspapers.
Priyam's father even borrowed from his friends and relatives, to give his son a cricket kit and arrange coaching. Priyam too on his part maintained his father's trust and today he is handling the responsibility of captaining the Indian team.
Ravi Bishnoi
Mangilal, father of Jodhpur's leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, is a teacher. However, his son's interest was never in studies but on cricket. Eight years ago, Ravi joined Spartan cricket academy to become a speedster, however, the coaches Pratyush and Shahrukh inspired him to become a spinner. Ravi used to spend all day on the cricket ground which angered his father, but the spinner used to stand firm on his decision.
Atharva Ankolekar
Mumbai born Atharva Ankolekar comes from a very poor family. His mother Vaidehi disclosed that when Atharva was nine years old, his father died and that she then brought him up after working as a conductor in Mumbai's bus service.
His mother used to take him to the ground. Vaidehi also disclosed that while other children used to drink juice after practice, Atharva never complained of the same and was satisfied after having rice.
