Chance for fresh legs to impress

India Under-19 take on England U-19 in first ‘Test’ today

n By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Feb 12

JUST a fortnight ago, the Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Jamtha stadium was abuzz. Thousands thronged the venue to watch India play England in a T20 encounter at this venue on January 29, situated at the outskirts of the city. But this Sunday was totally different. There was an eerie silence in the stadium. However, a few meters away in the batting nets, young and fresh legs were slogging it out hard with full 
seriousness. 
The young lads from different parts of India were tuning their skills before they square up against England Under-19 in first of the two four-day ‘Test’ series beginning Monday.
The Indian camp is on a high after their 3-1 win over England Under-19 in the One-Dayers a few days ago. But that was a different bunch with none of the players from that ODI team part of this ‘Test’ series.
These guys, led by lanky Jonty Sidhu, will be looking to keep the momentum going. More than winning the match or series, the young lads would try to catch eyes of selectors with their performance in the two matches and signal their arrival in next level.
The youngsters were concentration personified during the nets. Coach Rahul Dravid, who had very little time to watch them in camp, kept a close vigil on the batsmen. He gave each batsman 15 minutes in the nets which might be enough for him to select playing XI tomorrow.
“The one-day team was selected looking at the preparation for the (Under-19) World Cup. Here, the selectors have picked those who didn’t get the opportunity. Whatever talent we can see here we can use them. Even Rahul (Dravid) has not seen these guys. So, it also gives him a chance to watch them and assess them. These are the games where they should perform and grab these opportunities to justify their talent. Some of them can play First Class cricket and the next level too,” said bowling coach Paras Mhambrey while talking to media.
In the morning, Mhambrey and Dravid had a good look at the centre wicket on which the first ‘Test’ is going to be played. They had a long chat with curator Pravin Hinganikar. 
But the bowling coach doesn’t want to read too much into it. “The wicket looks good. There is a bit of grass on it and we hope that the ball will carry in the morning,” he added.
However, in the nets, left arm-spinners Harsh Tyagi and Sijomon Joseph bowled tirelessly with Mhambrey watching them closely hinting that both the spinners would find place in the 
playing XI.
England, too, had lengthy nets sessions for two days and would be looking to leave their ODI series defeat behind and start afresh.
“We wanted to win the ODI series but fell short. The last game was a tie and we have taken lots of positives from the series. Now we have a fresh new Indian side. It’s positive sign for us as we are playing together for quite some time for now. We know each other well and that would help us in Test,” said England captain Max Holden.
Whatever the result, this series is a chance for the 19-year-olds from both sides to take step ahead in their career.