Catch 'em young

I think Under 19 World Cups are something which is absolutely vital from a cricketing point of view because coming from a country where school cricket has been really the pivot of the country’s cricket, and having the pride of being probably called the best nurseries as cricket is concerned, I think Under 19 cricket is an important stage in a cricketer’s development; for the fact that it is around that age that you can fashion a player to play international cricket and at the same time also it gives an opportunity to countries which really are not in the big league, so to say, to try and build cricketers to a pitch where they can compete with the rest of the cricketing world. And I think it is probably the best age where cricketers would start to understand the game well enough and from that point of view I think it is one of the most important events in the world cricket calendar.

See, I think a lot of the cricketers that I have seen are from the sides that have played here in Kinrara and a few from Pakistan. I saw England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka play in a tri-series. Now the cricketers that I feel have reached a stage where they can be considered to be cricketers of the future - are the guys who have played in the first class scene, like lot of the Indians have done and if someone could be singled out as someone who has really made his mark, I think its going to be Sangwan, who I think has bowled wonderfully well and to my mind can be considered to be a player of the future and not too far away. Having seen bits and pieces of the India vs New Zealand game, Anderson of New Zealand comes across as a player who has a very bright future and I think he is a very strong contender as far as I am concerned to be a cricketer of the immediate future.