My U-19 Memories | Winning Under-19 World Cup meant everything, reminisces Siddarth Kaul
Over a decade ago, precisely in 2008, one of the brightest batches - the batch of Virat Kohli - graced the U19 World Cup and now their presence in international cricket has made the game even better. U-19 WC winner Siddarth Kaul, speaking exclusively to SportsCafe, takes us down the memory lane.
Once every two years, a bunch of young, extremely talented teenage cricketers become a part of the Under 19 World Cup journey that changes their lives forever. The batch of 2008 was graced with the presence of Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson - two of the greatest in the current era. The two current captains had battled it out in the U-19 semifinals but there it was Virat Kohli, the winning captain. Kohli’s boys then played the final against Wayne Parnell’s South Africa.
The then 18-year-old Kaul had bagged 10 wickets, averaging 15.40, in 10 Under 19 World Cup games. The right-arm pacer, who bagged a Ranji Trophy hattrick against Andhra Pradesh last week, reminisces his experiences playing the massive tournament and executing one of the biggest roles of his life. According to Kaul, those three weeks were everything that mattered for him at that moment. Even though the Punjab cricketer didn't deny the team's then ambitions of playing the Indian Premier League, which was a new prospect then and as exciting even new, or for the senior team; the commitment at that moment was only the Under 19 ICC tournament.
“I think we were not thinking about who is going to play for the Indian team for 10 years. We were thinking about the championship in which we were competing with other international teams. We were boosted up for winning the Cup - which was much more important for us. At that time the IPL was introduced. Of course, there were many guys promising in domestic cricket..we were in the process of how to win this World Cup rather after that thinking about some other things like somebody will get picked for the Indian team,” Kaul told SportsCafe.
“Some will be picked up for the IPL because at that time the IPL was introduced so it was like a boost for us...winning the World Cup was more important for us than thinking about the next 10 years who will be making it big in international cricket.”
However, the promise in the cricketing bunch back then was undeniable. The era of Sachin Tendulkar was destined to be transitioned into the era of a Virat Kohli. And the 2008 ICC tournament was just the push to it. According to Kaul, everyone from Kohli to Manish Pandey and including himself had the promise of making it all the way and remain relevant for a long time.
“Of course, there were many players promising in domestic cricket as well in U19 World Cup like Virat, myself, Tarwar Kohli, Tanmay Srivastav, Manish Pandey, Saurabh Tiwary, Shreevats Goswami and a couple of more guys who played at that time and playing now as well. So 15 of us were thinking about playing for India..there is not a single guy who was not thinking about representing India. But our goal was to win the World Cup rather than thinking about anything else. It is cricket someday you will be great and someday you won’t,” he added.
The coach’s advice
Teenage years are the years when a person gets shaped to become what they grow up to be. That shaping does not just come through self-training. It’s always guidance that does the trick. And for the India U19 team that lifted the title in 2008, it was coach Dav Whatmore who helped them understand the process and the wants better.
“Yeah, obviously it was a very big tournament for any nation because the world cup is a platform all teams around the world compete and the whole country watching us and must be thinking about us playing for upcoming men's cricket sooner. Now they are boys and soon they will be into men's cricket. So we were thinking about giving our best, if we win the tournament it will be a boost for us further,” the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler stated.
“So we were thinking about the process, not thinking about the World Cup; what we will be after 10 years. I think the process was better and our coach Dave Whatmore taught us that let’s win this world cup lets do our best. Let’s do the thing we are doing for the last 3-4 weeks with the team..so we were thinking about those things,” he revealed.
Siddarth Kaul receiving his first ODI cap © BCCIFavourite World Cup memory
Rain had reduced the 2008 Under-19 World Cup final, between India and South Africa at Kuala Lumpur, to 25 overs. The overs were diminished, in the battle of nerves, but the ambitions - and stakes - were even higher. The Indian bowlers played a massive role in India’s victory, under captain Virat Kohli, and also proved to be the difference between the two teams. India lifted their second U-19 World Cup title as Siddarth Kaul emerged as one of the most significant match-winning performers with figures of 2/26 in the final, including the opposition captain’s wicket, in his five overs.
“I think winning the World Cup[was my favourite memory] That last over I bowled was the best moment of my life because it was such a big honour and occasion for me getting the last over to bowl and you make your team win. That's a great opportunity of any youngster or any player who will be playing Under 19 or senior cricket wherever the World Cup is. So it feels a very proud moment for you. So that has happened for me and I feel very grateful to the people and who had trust in me and I delivered my best,” he revealed.
“We were thinking about bowling this because we only left with 25 overs and then 5 overs were left for me for Jaddu[Ravindra Jadeja] and Iqbal also so we three were thinking that ‘Okay! we can do it’ and the feedback from the support staff helped us and we grabbed that match and won the World Cup for India.”
But was the final his favourite game in the entire tournament as well?
“I think every game was my favourite because playing for my country and that too in the World Cup. Obviously, playing the final was also a very great game but I will say that every moment that I played for my country was my favourite moment for me. I think every game we were giving our best but you have to improve by every game, our coach was very nice about those things. He gave us charts that in this match u did this, you were good in this part. You need to improve on this part so those were the terms and when we were going to play the finals at that time,” he shared.
Here’s Kaul’s advice to the Priyam Garg’s boys, who defeated Pakistan in the semifinal, as will now fight it out in the final of the 2020 ICC Under 19 World Cup with the Bangladesh U19 team on Sunday, February 9.
“Go and express yourselves as you expressed yourself in all the games coming this far. Just keep the winning momentum going. Battle will go on, so just keep on doing the best, just relax and play it like another game obviously the pressure and nerves will be there. Just express yourself and automatically everything will fall into place,” Kaul concluded.