Indian legends mighty pleased to see the crop of fast bowlers in U19 team

When you take about Indian cricket, you talk about batsmen. You recall the six sixes or glorious chases. The Indian batsmen have several records to their name. There is an Indian present in every other batting record. Even the spinners have done well in the past on subcontinent pitches. But what about the pacers?

We do not have a long list of pacers accumulating 100 Test wickets. Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Mohammed Shami and then we go blank! Historically, we haven’t had a pacer bowling some serious pace consistently and tasting success. But it seems like the times are changing.

Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have done exceedingly well for India in the past two years. With the U19 World Cup underway in New Zealand, all eyes are on the Indian quicks. They started their campaign with a 100-run win over Australia. The captain Prithvi Shaw led from the front by scoring 94.

But the talk of the day was the duo of Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. The youngsters consistently bowled deliveries over 145 kmph. They have garnered praises from Indian legends Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. With the IPL auctions just round the corner, if the duo performs well in a few more games, an IPL contract may soon be added to their CV.

India have been devoid of an out and out fast bowler and it is amazing to see the talent being developed at the U19. Ganguly who has an eye for spotting and nurturing talent from a nascent stage wrote- “All 3 under 19 quicks prospect for india ..by far the best in the tournament.”

@imVkohli @vikrantgupta73 @BoriaMajumdar @VVSLaxman281 @sachin_rt all 3 under 19 quicks prospect for india ..by far the best in the tournament

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) January 14, 2018

He also mentioned skipper Virat Kohli, his former teammate VVS Laxman who is also the mentor of IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad and the BCCI to keep an eye on these youngsters. “Keep an eye on two under 19 quicks ..mavi and nagarkotti ..bowling at 145 in newzealand ..brilliant ..”

@imVkohli @VVSLaxman281 @BCCI keep an eye on two under 19quicks ..mavi and nagarkotti ..bowling at 145 in newzealand ..brilliant ..

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) January 14, 2018

Viru also acknowledged the pace and wrote- “This was serious pace from our boys. Solid beginning beating the Aussies by 100 runs. May the hunger continue and we carry the momentum.”

This was serious pace from our boys. Solid beginning beating the Aussies by 100 runs. May the hunger continue and we carry the momentum. #U19CWC pic.twitter.com/zL75RDxjN3

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) January 14, 2018