India’s U-19 WC preparations started 1.5 years ago, affirms Mhambrey
India Under 19 side has been preparing for the World Cup, which will be hosted in South Africa in 2020 and the head coach Paras Mhambrey has opined that they are only looking forward from here.
The U19 side under the able guidance of Mhambrey was practising in Alur before they set sail for the South Africa tour in December. The sole focus of the head coach is to develop the players irrespective of the results that the side achieves in near future and in the ICC U19 World Cup next year.
"The preparation started one and a half years ago in the previous campaign. A similar process is being adopted out here and that's the focus - how the process is and how do you want to take it through," Mhambrey said, as reported by Cricbuzz.
"The process, for me, is very important. You can't judge that by just winning a tournament. That's not the larger picture. It's good to win, especially at the platform we are at right now. But the focus for us is the development of the player. It's (World Cup) a stepping stone as one of the tournaments the player will play going ahead in his career. There's first-class cricket after that, there's representing India at the highest level. And in that process, this step is forward."
Mhambrey is aware of the fact that the approach and the process might not yield great results initially but he is hopeful that this side, which has a lot of potential, will bear fruits real soon.
Mhambrey is happy with the number of games that India U19 side is getting ahead of the World Cup and in these matches, he can figure out the perfect combination leading to the biggest trophy. A similar approach was taken when the Prithvi Shaw-led side had gone on to win the big prize.
"It's good that we are getting at least 10 games before the first match of the World Cup. Those games do give us the opportunity to experiment and find the right combinations going ahead. It definitely gives us the option of trying a couple of options. So in case, we encounter a particular condition in the tournament, we are in a position to take the right step," Mhambrey stated.
"If we look at it the other way, it gives us the chance to rotate the squad, so that we can give enough breaks to individual who we feel needs that break. Also, it is important because the conditions that we encounter out there will be completely different to what we have when we play out here. In that sense, it gives them an opportunity to acclimatize themselves to the conditions, wickets. That's what we are looking at."
The South Africa tour will also help India to get accustomed to the conditions and get to know the pitches more. In that way, India will not only have a knowledgeable squad in terms of conditions and wickets, but also end up becoming a strong contender.
