India U19's tour of Australia concluded yesterday, with the visitors winning 5-0, across formats. Here are five standout players from the series.
Vedant Trivedi
From an India perspective, much of the focus on this tour was on Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre, both of whom have shone for the side in their recent series. But, Vedant Trivedi put his hand up across both formats. The Gujarat batter supported Abhigyan Kundu superbly in the first ODI, to take India home in a tricky chase. He fell for 26 in the second, but impressed once again with 86 in the final white-ball game of the tour.
On youth Test debut in the first match, Trivedi scored 140 as India only batted once. He added 25 and 33 not out in the next game, finishing as the top run-scorer, as he had in the ODIs.
Read more: A wicket every 4.5 overs: India trump Australia in shortest Youth Test of all time
Khilan Patel
India has become a veritable conveyor belt of left-arm spinners, and the next off the production line seems to be Khilan Patel. Like a more well-known spinner in Axar Patel, he also hails from Gujarat. The younger Patel was, like Trivedi, excellent across both formats.
He missed the first ODI, but took five wickets across the other two – only Australia’s Will Byrom took more. Patel’s solitary wicket in the second match was that of first game hero John James, and he ran through the tail in the third, with 4-26. He was restrictive in both Tests, going at under 2.5 runs an over across the series, and finished with eight wickets including a standout spell of 3-19 in the first match.
Deepesh Devendran
One of the more exciting finds of the tour, from India’s point of view. Devendran was on the England tour earlier this year as well, but was somewhat outshone by fellow Tamil Nadu quick RS Ambrish.
Devendran was only picked for the Tests, and made an instant impact with 5-45, in an exhibition of pace, bounce and control. He finished with eight wickets in the first game, and performed a holding role in the second as his teammates took centre-stage.
Will Byrom
17-year-old left-arm quick Will Byrom was impressive in the ODIs, but only played one of the Tests. It was a difficult series overall for the hosts, but he distinguished himself. he kept a lid on India’s scoring in the second ODI, with 3-47 including the wicket of Ayush Mhatre, even as the visitors managed 300.
He took 3-45 in the third ODI as well, first getting the wicket of a set Trivedi, and keeping things tight at the death. In the second Test, he dismissed both openers in the space of three balls, the only time India batted.
Also read: India U19 captain continues torrid Australia tour with fourth single-digit score in five games
Jayden Draper
There was little to write home about from Australia’s batters, but the standout innings came in the second match of the series. John James had impressed in the first with an unbeaten 77, but Draper upstaged him in the following game.
Chasing 301, Australia were 64-4 in 21 overs when he came in. In a spectacular counter-attack, Draper lashed eight fours and four sixes in a stellar century; 107 off 72 balls. The next highest score was 38, even as they slipped to a 51-run loss. He made two and 15 in the second Test, where batting was difficult overall. He didn’t help himself in the second innings though, treading on his own wicket to depart.
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