U19 World Cup 2022: VVS Laxman salutes the young Indian squad for their resilience and positive attitude

India U19 beat England U19 by four wickets in the ICC U19 World Cup 2022 final at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua on Saturday, and by the virtue of this win, they lifted the biggest prize at the junior level for a record fifth time. Praises showered for the youngsters from all corners of India as well as across the globe and among them was one of world cricket’s finest Test batters VVS Laxman. The batting great explained the reason behind the Indian team having an outstanding campaign.

The National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief was seen in the Indian junior team’s camp throughout the tournament and after their historic triumph on Saturday, he lauded the Indian Colts’ resilience as well as a positive attitude and at the same time, he also gave a special mention to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for running a world-class youth structure which bore fruits in this tournament and the next generation of the Indian cricketers could achieve greatness.

I think BCCI has to be complemented: VVS Laxman

“I think the BCCI has to be complemented. The number of matches and tournaments each age group level gets to play, whether U-16, U-19, or U-23. unfortunately, due to Covid-19 they didn’t get to play any tournament and that’s why I think this tournament win is very special,” said VVS Laxman during the post-match interview.

“Firstly huge congratulations to the selection committee. It was a new selection committee and quite challenging for them to identify this group. After that, the coaching staff with Hrishikesh (Kanitkar) as the head coach, Sai Raj, Munish, and all the support staff. The way they got this group together, they worked really hard, won the Asia Cup and the preparation for this World Cup was fantastic”, he said.

At the same time, the Hyderabad cricketer also congratulated the boys’ never-say-die attitude despite finding themselves in a spot of bother initially. It needs to be noted that this sweet victory had come after a huge setback when some of the key players including skipper Yash Dhull and Shaik Rasheed had to miss the group stages after testing COVID-19 positive.

“But in the middle of this tournament, we all know what happened to the boys. To test positive (for COVID-19) but show the kind of resilience and positive attitude was exemplary,” Laxman said.