India under-19 boys showed a lot of 'grit' on England tour, says coach WV Raman

After coaching India under-19 to a clean sweep – 2-0 in ‘Tests’ and 5-0 in ODIs – on their tour of England that ended last week, WV Raman, filling in for Rahul Dravid on the tour as the latter was away with India ‘A’ in South Africa, was back at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to resume his role as the batting coach from Monday. In this exclusive chat with DNA, the former India opener tells G Krishnan that the recent England tour was more about development of the players for future and not necessarily specific to the 2018 U-19 World Cup. Excerpts:

When you set out for England, did you expect to make a clean sweep of both the 'Tests' and the ODIs?

This is something nobody will even think of, for the simple reason that there is no saying what is likely to happen. If it is achieved, nice. Obviously, nobody will think of a clean sweep because you have to go there and settle in. It has to be built game by game.

England is not an easy place to tour for an Indian team. How did the team adjust and keep winning?

Basically, the thing was that they needed to get rid of whatever was being told or whatever they thought was likely to happen. It was just a question of going out there in the middle and seeing what is happening and working it out accordingly. They would have seen a lot of things in the past when matches were played in England, they would have had their own assessment, got a few cues and perhaps told by a lot of people what you are likely to counter and stuff like that. The simple message was, ‘forget all that, it is not mandatory that whatever happened in the past must happen now. You go out and see what it is, and respond in the best way you can’.

Some of the players that caught the eye were batsmen Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, and pacers Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. Are they ready for senior cricket?

In any tour or series, you will have three or four people having better numbers than the rest. That is what has happened with these four guys. This means they have the ability and also the knack of performing. As to whether they are ready for senior cricket, it is too early to talk about. They need to go through their phases, they need to transit well into the senior level and if they continue to perform well, they will be ready in three-four years’ time.

What has impressed you the most of these youngsters?

Overall, as a team, they performed admirably. Whenever there was a little bit of a tight situation, somebody stood up and got the team out of a spot of bother. That was the best part about this team. For example, in a couple of one-dayers, when we were chasing, there was a little bit of a challenge. There were top-order slides, and the lower order did the job. In the second ‘Test’, we were 106/7. Then the last three wickets comprising the bowlers took it to 292. As a team, they were excellent in tiding over tough phases of the game.

With regards to Shubman and Prithvi, they have played for their state sides. This meant that they will be confident at this (U-19) level. Prithvi is one who likes to dominate, play his shots and strike the ball cleanly. That is a good quality to have. Of course, at this age, they will play fearless as this is the start of the journey.

As far as Gill is concerned, he is always a guy who will look majestic when in good nick. He does pack quite a bit of punch in his shots. He also has the ability to play a long innings, which was displayed in both the ‘Tests’ and one-dayers, where he got a century each. The first fifty that he got in the one-dayers (147 in 3rd ODI) was almost like a dream, lovely shots first up and then he paced his innings well. What is likely to happen when a couple of guys have already played first-class cricket or at the senior level (List A) and have done reasonably well there is that it gives them that little bit of extra edge and extra confidence when they come down to the U-19 level.

Coming down to the fast bowlers, both Mavi and Nagarkoti complement each other well. They have got a very good attitude, can bowl long spells and sustain their pace, especially Nagarkoti, who can generate good pace and bounce. Both are very athletic. We can look forward to these guys scaling the ladder.

These youngsters may already be dreaming of playing for India senior and the IPL. As coach, how do you handle them so that they stay in the present?

We sort of miss the fact that these boys have not started to play cricket today, in a way. All these boys have come through U-16 and all that, which means they have been playing competitive cricket for the last three-four years. They know it is a step-by-step progression and that things are not going to happen overnight. That way, these boys are aware of these things. The don’t look too far ahead. At this age, they also realise that they need to enjoy their game and they need to do as well as they can.

Can we assume this set of players will form the core for next year’s U-19 World Cup?

It is difficult for me to comment upon. Between now and World Cup (January 13-February 3, 2018), there is a lot of cricket to be played. The selectors will watch them closely and there is a strong possibility that most of these players might figure in the squad. There is also a possibility that some new guys might force their way in. That is something that I don’t want to speculate on.

Was this tour specifically to prepare for the U-19 World Cup?

Obviously, this is a platform where they make everybody aware of their talent. That is why, the system also gives them a lot of opportunities to play. They send them on tours. This is a long-term process wherein they are given an opportunity to display their talent and progress. This is again a platform for the development of the players for the future. It is not just restricted to one tournament in their lives.

You coached India U-19 on successful tour to South Africa just before the 2008 U-19 World Cup. How different has this stint been compared to the previous one?

It is always very difficult to compare two teams that are a decade apart. This team had an overall balance as compared with that one. That was a little batting heavy. The very fact that Abhinav Mukund, Virat Kohli and Sourabh Tiwary went on to play for the country meant that it was a batting-heavy team. That was also proved long-term results wise. Of course, Ravindra Jadeja was in that team as well and he was the only bowler to come out from that side. The present one has a lot more balance. The striking difference is that this side has a better fast bowling attack. Of course, these things happen. It is all a question of timing. Sometimes, you might suddenly get a lot of fast bowlers at one time, sometimes it is the spinners that crop up. Some other times, you might get batsmen. This is all related to timing of tournaments and when these people go on tours. The obvious difference is the better fast bowling this time.