Video: Watch Rahul Dravid talk about the India Under-19 team's chances at the WC
The India Under-19 squad for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup was announced earlier today, with wicketkeeper-batsman from Jharkhand, Ishan Kishan being selected as the captain of the 15-member squad. The young Indian squad will be under the able guidance of former Indian cricketer, Rahul Dravid.
Dravid was appointed as the coach of the Under-19 squad in June 2015. Since then, he has been grooming the youngsters and finding his best squad for the World Cup, which is scheduled to be held during January-February, 2016 in Bangladesh.
After the squad was announced, Dravid was interviewed by bcci.tv and was asked about the Under-19 squad and their chances in the forthcoming tournament. He was happy with the opportunities that the management were able to provide a number of players and thus help the selectors pick the best possible squad for the World Cup.
The Under-19 squad recently won a tri-series against England and Sri Lanka, which was held in Sri Lanka. This was the second tri-series win for the Indian colts in two months after they won a tournament involving Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Kolkata last month.
Despite winning both the tournaments, Dravid was delighted with the fact that he was able to give chances to different players and rotate the squad. However, he lamented the fact that since there were only two tournaments, he was not able to give more youngsters opportunities to showcase their talents.
India will be playing in Group D, along with Australia, New Zealand, and Nepal. Dravid considered the group his young cricketers were in as a ‘tough group’. Each team will play against the other teams in the group only once which makes it all the more vital for the Indian youngsters to be at their best in each of the matches.
Dravid finally spoke about his learning experience as a coach and revealed how he learned much more about the game as a whole. Since he was never a bowler, Dravid said he learned things about bowling that helped him see the game in a different light than when he was playing.
The India Under-19 team play their group games on January 28, January 30 and February 1 against Australia Under-19, New Zealand Under-19, and Nepal Under-19 respectively. If the youngsters can continue their recent form, they could go all the way and bring the Under-19 World Cup home for the third time.
Here is the video of the interview ( Video courtesy of BCCI):
Looking forward to the U-19 World Cup with these boys.. India U19: Ishan Kishan (Capt), Rishabh Pant (VC), Washington...
Posted by Rahul Dravid on Tuesday, 22 December 2015