The need to improve Under-19 team’s performance in Youth World Cups

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SLU19

Despite measures being taken to improve the performances of Sri Lanka Under-19, the team failed to make an impact in the ongoing ICC Youth World Cup in South Africa, failing to qualify for the business end of the competition.

Sri Lanka were relegated to the Plate Championship after being beaten by New Zealand and India in the first round. Their game against the Kiwis went to the wire and they narrowly missed out. But the fact remains that they failed to make it to the quarter-finals, making another early exit. On Monday, they will take on England in the Plate Finals before returning home.

Since losing a close final in 2000 to an Indian side that featured Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, Sri Lanka Under-19 have not reached a final of the Youth World Cup. Twenty years ago, when Sri Lanka Cricket hosted the event, several players emerged and went onto play for the senior side successfully. However, subsequent Sri Lankan teams have failed to make an impact although there have been several individuals who impressed in the competition and went onto represent the senior side.

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SLC needs to address the issue and find out ways how they can become a force again at age group levels rather than just making up the numbers in the biannual competition.

Two years ago, the board thought that one of the ways to address the issue was to put in a strong coaching staff to oversee the performance of the team. Former Test captain Hashan Tillakaratne was removed as Batting Coach of the national team and was put in charge of the junior side. Hashan who has a reputation as a hard worker tried his best but there’s so much he can do and if the system doesn’t support him, his efforts will be futile.

It is strange that Sri Lanka Under-19 fail to make an impact at Youth World Cups despite possessing a strong school cricket structure. Many other nations where there is no proper school cricket structure put up far better shows than our under-19 players.

There were warning signs last year when Sri Lanka failed to make it to the second round of the Emerging Asia Cup tournament held in Colombo.

There is so much SLC can learn looking at Board of Control for Cricket in India. Successive Indian teams have gone onto win the Youth World Cup and there are many things that our Indian counterparts do right.

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Former Test captain Rahul Dravid has been handed the Under-19 side and he has been given full control from choosing his support staff to the players. He has also a massive say in the structure the Under-19 team should follow and the Indians are making significant progress in Youth World Cups. Hashan like Dravid should have been given total control as he has a proven track record in delivering. His methods worked for the senior side as he came up with new training methods with the senior side and the highlight during his stint was Sri Lanka ending Pakistan’s unbeaten run in UAE in 2017. Pakistan had not lost a series in UAE since the gulf region had become their adopted home in 2009.

An area where our boys made an improvement was fielding. Upul Chandana did a fine job to help raise the fielding standards and with Hashan too being an outstanding fielder in his playing days this discipline improved leaps and bounds.

One of the mistakes Sri Lanka Under-19 did was to choose players who are not eligible for the Youth World Cup for bilateral series that preceded the event. India meanwhile pick their players early and choose only among those 25 to 30 players identified to take part in the Youth World Cup.

Dravid effectively picks players who are big hitters. Then he works with them on the basics. In the first year, they play about 80 percent of three day games while their one-day cricket is the remaining 20 percent. This is meant to help players improve their skills to occupy the crease and build innings. By the time the second year comes, the ratio is changed and the Indians play about 80 percent of one day cricket while three day cricket is restricted to 20 percent. This has done wonders for the Indian Under-19 side.

Another good thing that the Indians do is to send their Under-19 players to Ranji Trophy and the exposure they get playing First Class cricket at a competitive environment helps them immensely in doing well in age group competitions.

SLC needs to prioritize improving their performances in Youth World Cups as the team has not lived up to expectations in the last two decades. Since there is a proper structure in school cricket, we only need to fine tune the system to bring the best out of our Under-19 players.