Chennai boys spearhead Test, under-19 triumphs

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Sunday was a special day for Indian cricket with the juniors beating defending champions Australia to win the under-19 World Cup in Townsville while the seniors registered a handsome innings-and-115-runs win over New Zealand in the first Test at Hyderabad. Chennai boys lent a significant hand in both achievements.

Off spinner R. Ashwin (12 for 85) recorded the best bowling by an Indian against NZ in Tests while all-rounder Baba Aparajith’s 171 runs, five wickets and six catches in the tournament played a crucial role in the juniors’ triumph.

An elated BCCI president, N. Srinivasan, said, “Many congratulations to the under-19 side for winning the World Cup. They did it in style against a strong Australian side. Baba Aparajith’s performance was heartening and the youngster should go on to reach greater heights in future.”

Srinivasan, also TNCA president, added, “I liked the way Cheteshwar Pujara settled down quickly and shared that important partnership with his skipper. Spinners contributed in a big way with Ashwin leading from the front.”

Former TN and Indian medium pacer, B. Arun, is the under-19 team’s coach. BCCI announced Rs 20 lakh per player and Rs 15 lakh to each of the support staff.

Final hero chand’s hometown erupts in celebration

The society here in the capital’s Mayur Vihar-I area, which houses the Chands, broke into scenes of joyous celebrations after India U-19 skipper Unmukt led his team to a comprehensive win over hosts Australia in the final of the World Cup with an unbeaten ton.

Chand, who had scored heavily in all the tournaments in the run up to the World Cup, was not his usual self in the pacy conditions in Australia and had just had one half century (78) against Zimbabwe going into the final. But the young man curbed his natural instinct to attack and matched the big occasion with a bigger innings, something which he is known to do very often.

At his home in Delhi, his father, Bharat Chand Thakur, was beaming with pride as he accepted the pleasantries from the neighbours and relatives.

“He left for Australia with a lot of self belief. What he aimed for and had been preparing for the last two years, he has achieved it. If you look at his BBM status, it was — U-19 world cup, nothing else matters. I can feel the cup in my hands— for the last two three days,” the senior Chand said.

Mother Rajeshwari, was a bundle of nerves during the match and kept praying to the lord as his son made his way into the record books hitting a fifth ton, the most by an U-19 cricketer. A grand welcome awaits the 19-year-old but the road from here will just get tougher for Chand.

Chand, who has been often been compared to statemate Virat Kohli, has big targets to achieve in justifying the comparison to Kohli, who graduated to the senior team effortlessly after India’s win in the same competiton in 2008 and is now one of the batting mainstays of the team. The youngster has said in the past that he derives motivation from the comparison.

Hyderabad win just the beginning: Ashwin

After losing eight straight matches, India finally won a Test when they thrashed New Zealand by an innings and 115 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

And the man responsible, R. Ashwin, was a picture of composure, hinting at steely resolve to take India back to the pinnacle of Test cricket. And accordingly, Ashwin refused to dwell on the horror that was their previous season.

“It’s cricket, you win some and you lose some. I don’t like to dwell on the past. I’m really happy we won our first match of the home season and we will look to keep this up,” the off-spinner said after his spectacular match figures of 12 for 85, the best ever by an Indian bowler against New Zealand.

As good as his analysis was in the match, Ashwin said he was making sure he didn’t get carried away by it.

“I never let my performances —both good and bad — get to me. I’m really happy at having bowled well. This is a good start and the pressure will be off me. I can now enjoy my game,” he said. New Zealand’s travails against spin are well documented, but Ashwin said he did not believe the visitors were under any kind of psychological pressure.

“While their past failures against spin may have been playing on their minds, I wouldn’t say we had the edge over them. The last time we played them here, we didn’t win the game. So we arrived here a little apprehensive. By the end, we played better than they did.”

Ashwin said he enjoyed bowling on the Hyderabad pitch. “It was a very good wicket. There was a lot in it for the bowlers and the batsmen could score runs as well.” The off-spinner also said he owed a lot to the close-in fielders, who took a lot of sharp catches.

“Having good slip fielders is an advantage, especially when they hold on to difficult catches. It puts the batsmen under immense pressure.”