Garg has historic hurdle to cross in Under-19 WC

India’s dominance of the Under-19 World Cup extends beyond the four title wins. It has six appearances in the final, it has won more matches (58) than any other team and it has produced many stars, who later played for the country in the senior team.

However, in each of its title defences in 2002, 2010 and 2014 it was knocked out in the semi-finals and quarters.

Having said that the India colts are seasoned campaigners as they have started their careers quite early and even in this 15-man team in South Africa five of them were able to pick up IPL contracts even before the World Cup – four of them being in excessof Rs 1 crore.

Garg, the skipper, fetched a winning bid of INR 1.9 crore from Sunrisers Hyderabad, and his ‘senior’ record tells you why: a first-class average of 66.69, a List-A average of 47.13, and a T20 strike rate of 132.74.

In terms of pre-tournament visibility though, the captain is pipped by Yashasvi Jaiswal – already a bit of a household name. The left-handed opening batsman has made waves in just a few months of domestic action, stamping his name on his maiden List-A season with 779 runs from just 13 innings at an average of 70.81 – 203 of which came in one potentially life-changing knock. With Rajasthan Royals shelling out Rs 2.4 crore for the opener, Jaiswal is the only ‘million dollar baby’ in this squad.

India’s probable first-choice XI in South Africa is likely to feature an all-left-handed top-three, with Divyaansh Saxena expected to partner Jaiswal and Tilak Verma having earned his number three spot with a string of consistent scores in the lead-up tothe World Cup.