The players who impressed at the U19 Cricket World Cup 2018

The 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup took place in New Zealand between the 13th of January and the 3rd of February. It was the third time that the tournament was staged in New Zealand and in doing so, they became the first country to ever do so. It was the 12th U19 World Cup to take place and the West Indies headed to New Zealand as defending champions but found themselves knocked out in the group stages.

It was Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa who made it successfully out of the group stages and into the quarterfinals. The tournament was turning out to be quite exciting and was keenly followed by cricket fans worldwide, which was underlined by the fact that trusted sports sites like the home of online betting: betting.com offered match reviews throughout the tournament.

The semifinals saw Australia beat Afghanistan by 6 wickets and India beat Pakistan by 203 runs. In the end, it was India who were triumphant in the final, by 8 wickets, winning their fourth U19 World Cup, a record in itself. So while India were the standout team, which players impressed in New Zealand?

India’s Shubman Gill was declared the player of the tournament and it’s easy to see why. India’s squad is packed full of great young talents but Gill had by far and away the biggest impact. Even the numbers reflect his form as he hit 418 runs at an average of 104.50, this saw him finish second in the batting standings. Gill also impressed by showing that he is capable of pulling off a number of shots when at the crease, which will serve him well going forward.

The next stand out player is another Indian too, this time it’s bowler Kamlesh Nagarkoti. His 140kmph deliveries certainly caught the eye and turned plenty of heads in the process. Nagarkoti, who hails from Rajasthan, impressed over the course of the tournament and helped India run out as eventual winners by taking 9 wickets. The senior side is currently utilising a pacey attack and Nagarkoti’s style, when it’s fine-tuned, could be extremely effective.

It was a great tournament for the Aussie players too, with Jason Sangha and Jack Edwards being the pick of the bunch. Sangha skippered Australia and has always led by example. He’s continuously been top of the batting charts and proved his worth once again in New Zealand. He was great as the No. 3 batsman and his reflexes were particularly impressive as he played first slip during the tournament too. His work at first slip particularly stood out against England during their defence of a poor 127 total.

Australia lost in the group stages to India but even then, Jack Edwards still impressed. He scored a great 90-ball 73 and showed great potential in doing so. He ended the U19 World Cup with 219 runs from a total of five games where his average score was 43.20. There were certainly promising signs about the future Edwards could and probably will have going forward as a batsman. People are already mentioning similarities between him and the style of Kevin Pietersen.