Top 10 ICC U19 World Cup stars who couldn't make it to highest level

Unmukt Chand led India to ICC U19 World Cup 2012 win but he never played for India at the highest level.

The ICC U19 World Cup was first played in 1988 in Australia. Since then, it has been taking place once every two years. Some of the best youngsters from across the globe showcase their talents at this tournament. A number of those go on to become the best in the game at the international level, like Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Babar Azam and many more.

This is the best platform to catch the attention of the selectors and make an entry into the national side. But, there have been some odd occasions when a U19 star who did a brilliant job during his stint couldn’t make it big at the highest level.

Here are the top 10 U19 World Cup stars who couldn’t make it to highest level

10. Brett Williams – 1988 (Australia)

Australia won the inaugural edition of the ICC U19 World Cup by defeating Pakistan in the final. The man who led them to the title was Brett Williams. He won the Player of the Match award for his brilliant hundred in the final. He made 108 runs and took his team over the line.

Infact, he was the top-scorer with 471 runs in just nine games. But, despite a tournament-winning performance, he couldn’t represent Australia at the highest level and played a handful of List A and first-class matches for South Australia.

9. Tanmay Srivastava – 2008 (India)

If you follow Indian cricket closely, you should know about Tanmay Shrivastva. India won the 2008 edition under Virat Kohli and Tanmay was one of the prime reasons for that. That edition was very special because the likes of Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, Trent Boult, Dinesh Chandimal and Ravindra Jadeja were all from that batch. Tanmay was one of them, scoring 262 runs at an average of 52.40, which helped India win their second ICC U19 title.

After that tournament, he also scored the most runs for UP in the 2008–09 Ranji season, which earned him a place in the IPL for King’s XI Punjab in 2008. But, that was the highest point of his career and he couldn’t make it any further.

8. Dominic Hendricks – 2010 (South Africa)

South Africa finished the ICC U19 World Cup 2010 in fifth place. But, Dominic Hendricks was the best performer in the tournament. He ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 391 runs in six innings at an excellent average of 97.75.

He even outscored Babar Azam and Quinton de Kock in the tournament. Later, he played 145 first-class games, but couldn’t make it to the South African national side.

7. Unmukt Chand – 2012 (India)

India won their third U19 title in 2012 under the leadership of Unmukt Chand. He smashed an unbeaten 111 in the final of the tournament against Australia to lead India to glory. After the tournament, many former cricketers and cricket fans termed him as the ‘next big thing’ for India.

He made his IPL debut for Delhi in 2013 and even played for Mumbai and Rajasthan. But, because of the lack of consistency, he couldn’t make it to the Indian team and has moved to the US now.

6. Reetinder Singh Sodhi – 2000 (India)

India won their maiden ICC U19 World Cup title in 2000 under the leadership of Mohammed Kaif. Yuvraj Singh was the Player of the Tournament and Greame Smith was the top-scorer of that edition. But, it was all-rounder Reetinder Sodhi who won the Man of the Match award for India in the final against Sri Lanka.

He made an unbeaten 39 in the chase and bowled 10 overs, giving away just 26 runs. He even played 18 ODIs for the Indian team, scoring 280 runs and picking up five wickets.

5. Jack Burnham – 2016 (England)

Jack Burnham holds the record for most runs for England in a single edition of the ICC U19 World Cup. He did it at the 2016 edition. He was part of the team that had Dan Lawrence, Sam Curran and Saqib Mahmood. Burnham scored 420 runs in just six innings at an average and strike rate of 84 and 92.51 respectively.

But, despite that, he couldn’t represent England at the international level. He also suffered a ban in 2017 for doping, which ended all his hopes of representing the national side.

4. Anuk Fernando – 2014 (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka had a horrible performance at the ICC U19 World Cup 2014 where they finished eighth on the table. But, the biggest positive for them was Anuk Fernando. He ended the tournament as the highest wicket-taker with 15 wickets, which was more than Kagiso Rabada in that edition.

However, he never got the chance to represent Sri Lanka at the international level. Fernando played 50 first-class games and took 55 wickets at the domestic level.

3. Zahid Saeed – 1998 & 2000 (Pakistan)

Zahid Saeed represented Pakistan in two editions of the ICC U19 World Cup in 1998 and 2000. He was 17 in the 1998 edition. Zahid played eight matches for Pakistan in two editions and took 16 wickets at an average of 11.50 with a best of 5/14.

He was the leading wicket-taker in 2000 and troubled Michael Clarke and Shane Watson. He played 75 first-class games and took 299 wickets, but never played for Pakistan at international level.

2. Chathura Peiris – 2008 & 2010 (Sri Lanka)

Another star who played two editions for his team was Sri Lanka’s Chathura Peiris. He played in the 2008 and 2010 editions. In the first edition, he played only one match, but in the next edition, he led Sri Lanka and ended as the second-highest wicket-taker for his team with 13 wickets.

Sri Lanka reached the semi-finals in that edition. But, those good performances couldn’t help him gain a place at the highest level.

1. Donovan Pagon – 2002 (West Indies) :

West Indies reached the semi-finals of the 2002 U19 World Cup and Donovan Pagon was the main reason for it. He smashed the highest individual score in the history of the ICC U19 World Cup and went on to score 176 runs in 129 balls against Scotland in Dunedin.

Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Rampaul and Daren Sammy were his teammates. He scored 421 runs in seven innings at an average of 70.16. His good numbers helped him make his test debut in 2005 against South Africa. But, he played only two matches and scored 37 runs.

(All stats updated till 13th January, 2024)

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