'Yashasvi Jaiswal will definitely play for India' - Shoaib Akhtar hails the youngster after India U19's victory

India U19 continued with their imperious run in the ongoing ICC U19 World Cup 2020 when they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan U19 by a comprehensive margin of ten wickets. It was a clinical performance from the young Indian colts from the get-go.

Their planning was spot-on and the execution was even better as hapless had no answer to the defending champions brilliance. Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar urged his young colts to not lose heart after a mauling of such proportions. He, however, said that the better side won, terming Pakistan‘s fielding as “pathetic and foolish”.

“Don’t lose heart. You need to learn from failures. These are not setbacks, these are opportunities. Well done on reaching the semi-final but the better team won,” Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.

Akhtar is particularly impressed with the heart-wrenching story of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s struggle. Chasing 173, Team India needed its openers to provide them with a steady start and Jaiswal did that with disdain as he notched up a calm and composed hundred. Akhtar feels that Jaiswal will go places in life because he has that hunger and a mature head.

“Jaiswal will go places. He has the hunger to do well. He will definitely play for India. He looked so matured. And that is because they have mature coaches.”

Shoaib Akhtar urges PCB to involve former players in coaching set-up

The Rawalpindi Express once again gave the example of Rahul Dravid and how BCCI is utilizing the services of former greats, unlike his own board.

“They got India’s best middle-order batsman Rahul Dravid for the coaching role in the U19 team. When you get a big guy, you need to pay him well. Here, Younis Khan went to take the job, the PCB offered him a job, and then they are bargaining with him. ’15 lakh nahi, 13 lakh le lo’ (take Rs 13 lakh and not Rs 15 lakh). He said ‘take it back’. Is that how you treat your stars?

“There is Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, I am here, just ask us. We will help the team. You think if we were a part of the U-19 coaching staff, the team would have performed like this?” said Akhtar.

Here’s the video: