The crown jewels

The fourteenth edition of the ICC U-19 World Cup just began at the West Indies, where Bangladesh will be playing as the defending champions for the first time after winning the title in 2020 in South Africa.

Some of the players from that World Cup-winning team have already made it to the national team and showed huge potential, just like many other global superstars of cricket who showed their prowess in this age level tournament.

Let’s look at some of the past editions of the ICC U-19 World Cup where cricketers like Brian Lara, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and many more announced their arrivals.

1988 Youth Cricket World Cup

The first edition of a global youth tournament was the Youth Cricket World Cup in 1988. Young cricketers from the then seven Test-playing nations and a combined team from associate countries took part.

From the participants, the cricketer who shone the brightest was Brian Lara. Besides the Prince of the Caribbean, some other significant names later became legends in their own country- Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain from England, Inzamam-ul-Huq and Mushtaq Ahmed from Pakistan, and Sanath Jayasuriya from Sri Lanka. Aminul Islam Bulbul, the first Test centurion from Bangladesh, played in that tournament for the combined associate nations’ team.

1998 ICC U-19 World Cup

Ten years after the Youth World Cup, the ICC U-19 World Cup was relaunched in 1998. Sabbir Khan was the skipper of the Bangladesh team and Hannan Sarkar, Mehrab Hossain, Al Shahriar, Ehsanul Haque were included. England won the title, with players like Graeme Swann and Rob Key, led by Owais Shah, who represented England later.

The key findings of that tournament must be Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag, and Saeed Anwar- three openers who redefined batting.

2000 ICC U-19 World Cup

Sri Lanka hosted the U-19 World Cup of 2000. Hannan Sarkar led the Bangladesh team, where a 15-year-old Mohammad Ashraful was picked. Bangladesh became the Plate runners-up behind Graeme Smith-led South Africa. India won the trophy by defeating Sri Lanka in 2000, with the help of a magnificent performance by Yuvraj Singh, judged as the player of the tournament.

2002 ICC U-19 World Cup

New Zealand hosted the U-19 World Cup in 2002. Mashrafe Mortaza led Bangladesh in that tournament. Australia won the trophy by defeating South Africa in the Final. Shaun Marsh, Suresh Raina, Ross Tylor, played in that World Cup as young cricketers.

2004 ICC U-19 World Cup

Bangladesh hosted the U-19 World Cup in 2004, where Ashiqur Rahman led Bangladesh with players like Mahmudullah Riyad, Aftab Ahmed, and Nafees Iqbal in the squad. Ambati Rayudu led a strong Indian side which had Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, and RP Singh, who all played for the senior side later.

Alastair Cook played for the England U-19 team, with Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Liam Plunket, Tim Bresnan, and Luke Right. Tim Paine led Australia.

2006 ICC U-19 World Cup

Sri Lanka was the host, Pakistan won the trophy once again, this time they beat archrivals India in the final.

Through this U-19 World Cup, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, and Tamim Iqbal announced their arrival. Bangladesh qualified for the Super League but lost to Moeen Ali-led England in the quarter-finals. Eoin Morgan played for Ireland, David Warner, Rohit Sharma, Sunil Narine also played in that event.

2008 ICC U-19 World Cup

Surprisingly, Malaysia was the breeding ground of current superstars of the game. Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, and Kane Williamson- were all part of the 2008 tournament. On the contrary, that edition had been one of the most unsuccessful campaigns for Bangladesh as only Mohammad Mithun and Rubel Hossain managed to make it to the national team.

2010 ICC U-19 World Cup

Once again, New Zealand hosted the U-19 World Cup, and Australia lifted the trophy. Jos Buttler, Joe Root, and Ben Stokes- three key players who brought England their first ODI World Cup in 2019 were part of that U-19 team. Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman Mominul Haque played for Bangladesh in that youth World Cup and became Plate Champions.