Under-19 World Cup Stars who did not live up to their potential
The ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup is the flagship tournament for the U-19 National teams and is contested by teams across cricketing nations.
The event, which initiated in the year 1988, has gained a lot of popularity in the recent years and is a biennial event since 1998.
The first edition had eight teams, however, since the 1998 edition 16 teams have participated in all the tournaments till date. India, the current champions, are the most successful side in the tournament with four titles. Australia, who won the first ever world cup in 1988 have three titles to their name and are the second most successful side.
Many teenage cricketers have used this tournament as a stepping stone and gone on to become National and International Greats with their U-19 experience.
Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli are few of the great cricketers that have launched their successful international careers through the U-19 World Cup.
However, for every Gayle or Kohli there are numerous cricketers that fail to realise their true potential.
Let us have a look at five of these players: -
#5 Zahid Saeed
Zahid Saeed, the left arm fast medium pacer from Pakistan found himself in International headlines during the 2000 U-19 Cricket World Cup.
Saeed was the most successful bowler in the tournament and was even compared to the great Wasim Akram at one point of time.
In his first-class career which was eight years long, the Punjab born bowler picked up 299 wickets in in 75 matches at an excellent average of 24.54 and an economy of 3.51.
However, his place in the national Team of Pakistan, which did not seem far away as a 19-year old kid, never got materialised. Saeed played his last First-Class Match in 2006.