Incumbent Under-19 India coach Rahul Dravid has stated that most players will get the opportunity in the upcoming matches to come against England. However, while this is certainly something that Dravid has been praised for, the fact is that the players get that everyone deserves the opportunity on the grand stage as well. However, this also comes at a time when Dravid has tried and explained the rotation concept to his team.
“They have all done well in the domestic competition, which is something that selectors wanted to reward and this was probably the only opportunity that we could give to them. I am glad that we will have a new bunch of boys in Nagpur that they get a chance to represent India and hopefully learn a few things. And at the end of series, you can say that you have given 40-41 U-19 kids an opportunity at this level and what more can you ask for?”
“You try and explain to them the concept that we are a squad and it is about everyone in the team,” he explained. “It is about their development and growth as players. I think they understand that. The worst thing that can happen to you at this age is that you go on tours and you don’t get to play any cricket; that’s the most demoralising thing.
Dravid went on to add that the efforts are there for one and all to get involved at the moment. “So, there is an effort to try and get a lot more boys involved. In a sense, it (rotation) builds healthy competition; lets everyone know that they cannot take their places for granted. In the future, the opportunities that they get, more than I would say selection will be based on their performances.”
“There are 15 players selected for two matches; we will try and give everyone an opportunity in that if we can. We will have to go and assess that as we get there. It is red ball cricket so we will have to get used to that. Those boys have been playing the red-ball cricket.
Dravid then went on to state that the coaches have been working with the players for almost a week in the NC in Bangalore. “They have been at the camp in the NCA for a week. I am sure that (WV) Raman and (Narendra) Hirwani at the NCA would have done a really good job with the boys over the last few days,” he added.
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