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The under-19 World Cup is a perfect platform for youngsters to experience international challenges and get ready for the major team and also it is the way to look out for those youngsters who are going to be the next big thing in cricket. Many great players who’ve played or are still playing at the international level have featured in the U19 World Cup, two of the biggest examples are Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson. We’ve seen many young guns who’ve become important players for their country in a couple of years. Youngster Shubman Gill is one of the rising stars at the current time and was a member of the U-19 World Cup winning team in 2018, but do you know who was the captain of the 2018 U-19 World Cup and where is he? Virat Kohli, Mohammad Kaif, Aiden Mrakram, etc are the U-19 World Cup-winning captains who are one of the greatest players of all time but some U-19 WC winning captains have lost their way after the milestone and ended up as unknown or failed players. Yash Dhull the captain of the defending champions is in the same way and if he didn’t get recognition as soon as possible he may never be able to receive what he deserves. The first U-19 World Cup took place in 1988 which called as Youth Cricket Club and then it took 10 years for the next U-19 Cricket World Cup. In this article, we will discuss those U-19 Cricket World Cup-winning captains who lost their way in the middle of becoming a great cricketer.
Geoff Parker – (1988)
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The first World Cup winning team Australia’s captain Geoff is one the most unrecognised players in this list. Geoff has never played a single international game for the Australian men’s team. Geoff was the captain of the Australian U-19 team in the 1988 Youth World Cup which was later won by Australia. Geoff Parker was the third-highest scorer for Australia in that tournament and sixth across everyone. He scored 245 runs in eight innings of the tournament. Other than the World Cup Geoff has played 11 youth tests and 19 youth One day international. Along with the national youth team he has played for Victoria (1986-1992) and South Australia (1997-1999).
Owais Shah – (1998)
The Second U-19 World Cup happened after ten years of the youth World Cup won by England under Owais Shah. the tournament didn’t go well for Owais Shah but still, he has managed to play approximately 100 international games where he has done nothing but disappoint the management. Owais mostly played the ODI format which was 71 games where he scored just 1834 runs with one century, in six test matches he scored 269 runs and in 17 T20I games, he had 347 runs. Graeme Swann was also a member of that team who later became one of the greatest spin bowlers for England, especially in the test. It was the same World Cup in which the Indian Stars Mohammad Kaif, Virendra Sehwag, and Harbhajan Singh appeared, and universe boss Chris Gayle had also appeared in that World Cup and was the highest scorer of that tournament too.
Khalid Latif – (2004)
The 2004 U-19 World Cup was won by Pakistan under the Captaincy of Khalid Latif and he was also the top performer for Pakistan in that tournament. After becoming the U-19 World Champion he took four years to appear in the Pakistan men’s team but he didn’t last for long. Khalid has played just five ODIs in two years of span and 13 T20Is in the time of eight years. Khalid has played 137 first-class games where he scored 8572 runs with 25 triple-digit scores but at the International level, he was a failure. Khalid was later found guilty of Spot-fixing in 2017 and banned for five years which killed his career left in the middle.
Unmukt Chand – (2012)
One of the most controversial U-19 World Cup-winning captains Unmukt Chand was once considered the future of Indian cricket which he proved in the tournament by scoring the most runs for India. Unmukt has never had the chance to appear in the Indian men’s team and his fans claimed that selectors destroyed his career. He was one the best youngsters of that time but due to his failure in IPL, he never got the chance to feature in the senior team. Later he left India to play franchise cricket around the globe and now when he is 30 years old he plays in America-based Major Cricket League for the Los Angeles Knight Riders. He played his last IPL game in 2016 against Kings XI Punjab where he scored a duck. Unmukt Chand blames BCCI for his failure but he is playing franchise cricket in other countries and failed in the IPL then no one has to do with his destruction.
Prithvi Shaw – (2018)
India was the strongest team in the U-19 World Cup 2018 with players like Shubhman Gill, Mnajot Kalra, Riyan Parag, Ishan Porel, Kamlesh Ngarkoti, Arshadeep Singh, and Captain Prithvi Shaw. many players of this team are currently playing in IPL or the Indian senior team, their captain Prithvi Shaw who made his international test debut in the same year with the hype and scored a fabulous century against West Indies in the opening game. Prithvi Shaw was getting attention from the domestic level and his stardom went to another level after his debut century but today after six years of that game he only used be seen playing in IPL and dropped from every format. After his extraordinary performance on home soil, he was picked for the New Zealand Australia tour in 2020 where he scored just one half-century in six innings nowadays when competition is at a high level his teammate Shubman Gill has replaced him in tests and later in ODI and T20Is too. He has only played five tests six ODIs and one T20, now he has lost all his fame and recognition and searching for a door to enter the team again.
Also Read: Shubman Gill: Profile, Age, Height, Achievements, And Career Stats
