Which of these two nations—India or Bangladesh—has had more success at the age-group level of cricket?
Given that India has won five titles in the ICC U-19 World Cups compared to Bangladesh’s one, this topic may first appear pointless.
India has won seven of the nine ACC U-19 Asia Cups, making their supremacy clear; the young Tigers have only triumphed once, in December of last year in Dubai.
India’s Youth ODI victory percentage of 76.25 is the highest in the world and much higher than Bangladesh’s 58.12. Bangladesh may still, however, claim that, in terms of one particular metric, they have outperformed their larger cricketing neighbors.
Finding and developing young players who can eventually represent their country at the senior level is the primary objective of age-level cricket, as opposed to international cricket, where winning is everything.
Bangladesh has India beaten by a country mile in that measure.
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“It is not ideal to select U19 players directly for the national team.”
163 different cricket players have represented Bangladesh in U-19 World Cups up till 2022. Seventy-eight of them have continued to play in one or more formats for the Tigers.
Bangladesh has had a 47.85 percent success rate in converting age-level cricket players into senior national team players, which means that almost one in every two cricketers have reached the international arena.
In contrast, India has fielded 162 cricket players for the U-19 World Cup since 1998, 41 of them have also played for the senior side.
With a conversion rate of only 25.31 percent, just one player out of every four U-19 cricketers in India was able to advance to the senior squad.
In the world of cricket, Bangladesh is unrivalled in producing international players from U-19 squads, not only India.
In only the previous three U-19 World Cups—which included the 2020 team that won the title—eighteen cricket players from Bangladesh have been awarded caps.
Seven U-19 cricketers from those batches have made their international debuts for India, who have won two championships and placed second once in the previous three seasons.
Other elite cricketing nations, such as Australia and England, have been even less generous when it comes to giving U-19 players their debuts; out of those three batches, just two and four cricketers, respectively, have been called up to the national side.
There are two possible interpretations for this disparity between Bangladesh and other elite cricket teams.
Either way, Bangladesh keeps producing amazing cricketers at the age of twenty who are prepared for the rigors of playing on the international circuit.
More likely, though, the nation’s cricket authorities have little to no faith in the caliber of cricket played on the domestic circuit and are actively seeking to accelerate the development of age-level players by identifying those who they believe have the potential to play at the international level and expediting their inclusion into the national team.
In Bangladesh, the practice of promoting young cricket players to the national squad quickly is not new.
In Bangladesh cricket, there are many examples of pushing young players without much experience to the big stage. From giving 18-year-old Mushfiqur Rahim his Test debut at Lord’s in 2005, the year before he participated in the Under-19 World Cup, to selecting Tanzim Hasan Sakib for the ICC ODI World Cup squad last year after he participated in consecutive U-19 World Cups.
However, there are dangers involved in taking a gifted young cricket player and throwing him into the deep end since the intense competition at the senior level can be too much for him to handle.
Additionally, they are ill-prepared for the brutal competition that awaits them on the international scene since they haven’t experienced the rigors of First Class and List-A cricket.
Anamul Haque is an age-level footballer from Bangladesh who has showed a lot of promise but has not yet reached his full potential.
The wicketkeeper-batter made his debut for his country the same year and ended up being the top run scorer in the 2012 U-19 World Cup with 365 runs.
Unfortunate injuries, an inability to seize chances, and glaring game weaknesses that have existed from the start have prevented him from living up to his potential.
Pakistan’s beloved Babar Azam participated in the same Under-19 World Cup, finishing second in the run-getters’ list despite scoring 78 runs less than Anamul, and had to wait an additional three years to play in an international match.
However, the period of time he had to wait it out against more seasoned players in the first class helped him develop as a player and prepared him for the ups and downs of international cricket—something that many players in Bangladesh, including Anamul, sometimes do not understand.
Another bunch of adolescent Bangladeshis will play India on January 20 in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2024 in Bloemfontein in around two weeks.
The team captained by Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby is traveling to South Africa in an attempt to double Bangladesh’s total number of tournament trophies.
If they go on to win the trophy, Bangladesh, a nation that seldom has success in sports at any level, would undoubtedly celebrate.
However, the authorities must not rush these young players and impede their development as cricket players for the sake of the nation’s game.
Because these young players’ careers may end up being much more beneficial for Bangladeshi cricket in the long term than an age-level championship.