India's Under-19 selection policy for Sri Lanka deviates from Rahul Dravidās policy
The India Under-19 team picked for the tour of Sri Lanka has deviated from Rahul Dravidās policy, which stated that players who have played one U-19 World Cup should not be considered. Both Aryan Juyal and Anuj Rawat, who were part of the U-19 World Cup earlier, have been picked in the squad.
Rahul Dravid is still in the process of formulating a definite plan to lay a strong foundation for players at the Under-19 level. The recent U-19 team selection for the four-day and one-day games in Sri Lanka does not conform to Dravid's policy of making a playerās journey at the U-19 level limited to one U-19 World Cup.Ā
Aryan Juyal, who started the U-19 World Cup earlier this year as the first wicketkeeper, has been named the captain of the one-day side and also has been named as the vice-captain in the four-day games while Anuj Rawat, who is also a wicketkeeper, has been named as the captain of India U-19 in the four-day games. Rawat too was a part of the U-19 team leading to the World Cup.
After the U-19 World Cup in 2016, Dravidās first major assignment as the U-19 coach, he had insistedĀ that players who have played one U-19 World Cup should not be considered for another one. The policy also aimed at dealing with curbing age-fudging problems.Ā
"The decision has been taken by Dravid and the junior selection committee together. There is no hard and fast rule about repeating players after a U-19 World Cup," a top BCCI official close to the development told TOI. He also added that the players who won't be eligible for the next U-19 World Cup have been preferred.
There are some players who donāt get enough matches in the state teams and are left stranded between the senior state team and the U-19. The transition has not been smooth for everyone.Ā
"Dravid feels that some of the boys need a bit more of grooming. These boys don't make it to the senior teams straight away. It will only help
Dravid has always advocated that once players break into the state teams, they should play less of junior cricket. The batch of 2016 had players like UP leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari, Mumbai batsman Armaan Jaffer, Rajasthan all-rounder Mahipal Lomror, Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar and MP pacer Rahul Batham who were eligible to play the next edition. However, these players were not considered for selection.
Interestingly, Rawat has already made his first-class debut for Delhi last season and Juyal too has played List A games for UP.Ā
"There was a belief that Juyal actually didn't play the entire World Cup. The ones in the previous batch had played the entire tournament
