The 3 rising stars from Indian Under-19 cricket
Indian cricket will forever be remembered for the era before Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and the era after he stepped aside and made way for newcomers to come forward and represent their country. It’d be unfair, perhaps even impossible for us to think that there’ll be another Sachin Tendulkar, but, surely, India has enough bright future prospects in its ranks, for the fans to hope for another future cricketing legend from our country: someone with his own unique identity, style and his own way of going about breaking records.
There was a time when no one believed – not even cricketing greats/commentators – that there can ever be a player who will break Don Bradman’s record of 30 Test centuries, but it was a stout little cricketer from Mumbai, Sunil Gavaskar, who not only broke Bradman’s record but set a new record of 34 centuries. It was then broken by Lara, who was then surpassed by another Indian great in Tendulkar.
I’m implying one simple fact: players come and go and records are meant to be broken. It’d be unfair, though, to consistently compare say, Virat Kohli to Tendulkar. Making comparisons can never be good for 2 individual cricketers, or sportsmen for that matter. Every sportsman wants to make his own unique name.
This article is about something that every Indian cricket fan looks forward to, i.e., the next Indian great from India or, in simpler words, the next ‘gem’ from India that can break Tendulkar’s records.
Arman Jaffer (Image credits: NDTV)
The best stage to identify the potential of a cricketer is when he plays at the school level because this is where every young cricketer gets to sharpen his game, learn about pressure and develop a unique style, with the intent of making it big someday.
I’ll name 3 such players who have hit the headlines in the last few years because of their record-breaking batting efforts at the school cricket level, which has raised the hopes among every Indian cricket fan. For others who haven’t heard of them, through this article, you will get to know more.
Arman Jaffer:
Arman Jaffer‘s uncle Wasim Jaffer has been a consistent run-scorer for the Mumbai Ranji team for many years now and has even represented India.
Taking the family name forward, Arman hit the headlines when he broke the record for the highest individual runs in the Harris Shield Tournament in 2013. Arman made 473 runs off 359 balls, hitting 65 fours and 16 sixes in an innings that lasted 437 minutes, at the Matunga Gymkhana Ground. Prior to this marathon knock, Arman had scored a massive 498 in a Giles Shield Match, but this innings gave him the much deserved limelight.
Later that year, in June 2013, Arman was included in the list of 30 probables for the Mumbai Ranji team, which meant that he was without doubt catching the attention of the selectors. At the age of 16, that was a massive achievement for this boy from Mumbai, who certainly has a very bright future ahead.
Sarfaraz Khan:
Sarfaraz Khan grabbed the limelight after he broke Tendulkar’s record for the highest individual score in a Harris Shield match. Khan made 439 to achieve the feat. This led to Khan getting a call-up from the U-19 selectors, and, at the mere age of 15, he got a chance to represent his country’s U-19 team.
Sarfaraz then flew to the UAE in early 2014 to represent India in the U-19 World Cup. At such a young age, an average person gets to admire their stars on the TV, whereas Sarfaraz had the golden opportunity to play in a tournament watched by billions of people all around the world.
Even though India couldn’t manage to get past the quarter-finals in the tournament, Sarfaraz got a terrific stage to showcase his talent as he managed to pile on bucketload of runs for his team and grab the eye balls of many.