Cricket fans are watching young players representing their nations at the 2024 Under-19 (U-19) World Cup , which is being held in South Africa. Numerous famous players in international cricket have come from the prestigious junior International Cricket Council (ICC) tournament.
In this prestigious competition, well-known players who currently dominate international cricket, such as Shubman Gill, Shaheen Afridi, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Steven Smith, displayed their capabilities. In addition to today's well-known figures, a few legendary players and retired veterans have made history by excelling in this competition. Speaking of which, here are five players who made waves in this international youth competition before making their debut with their senior national teams.
These five icons had outstanding performances at the Under-19 World Cup.
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Ramnaresh Sarwan, a former player for the West Indies, was a superb hitter in his day. Between 2000 and 2013, he was a member of the Windies cricket team, making over 11,000 runs for the side in all formats. His international career came to an end in September 2016.
Before beginning his international career in May 2000, Sarwan played for the West Indies U-19 squad, when he shared the top wicket-taking honours with Mluleki Nkala of Zimbabwe. With his leg-break bowling, he got 16 wickets in seven matches while playing seven games. He performed admirably as a hitter, amassing 175 runs at an average of 58.33 in five innings.
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August 2006 saw the debut of England's World Cup-winning captain, Eoin Morgan, wearing Ireland's colours on an international level. The southpaw displayed his exceptional batting ability at the 2006 U-19 World Cup, which was hosted in Sri Lanka, before making his debut on the international scene.
Morgan, playing for Ireland's U-19 team, was a confident batsman who finished as the second-highest run-scorer with 338 runs at a noteworthy average of 67.60 in six games. In the competition, he also hit two fifties and an incredible century against New Zealand.
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From 2006 until 2018, Alastair Cook was an England player for a total of 12 years. The left-handed opener was unable to make much of an impact for his team in white-ball cricket, but he made history in the longest version of the game by being the first batsman in his country to reach 10,000 runs. 2018 saw the legendary opener end his international career after amassing 12472 Test runs in 161 games. In red-ball cricket, he leads the English team in runs scored.
While he did not achieve much success for England in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), he did demonstrate his batting prowess at the 2004 U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh and was commended for his outstanding display. Cook, who was 19 at the time, finished as the second-highest run-scorer with 383 runs, two hundred, and fifty in seven games.
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Graeme Smith, a former captain of South Africa, led his country skillfully both as captain and as a batter. The explosive left-hander was renowned for taking aggressive early pitches. At the age of 22, he made history in April 2003 by becoming South Africa's youngest captain. In March 2014, the elegant Protea southpaw decided to end his international career.
Smith rose to prominence in the cricket world for the first time because of his brilliant batting performance for South Africa at the 2000 U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka. With an average of 79.27, he amassed 348 runs in six games, including four fifties, making him the competition's top run-scorer.
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In T20 cricket, Chris Gayle is referred to as "The Universe Boss." But as his performances in ODI and Test cricket demonstrate, he can also be a potent hitter in the longer formats of the game. The well-known Caribbean cricketer last played for the West Indies in 2021, yet he hasn't declared his retirement from the game.
The aggressive left-handed hitter made his debut for the Windies in September 1999, but not before he made waves with his brilliant batting performance in the 1998 U-19 World Cup in South Africa. The Jamaican cricketer finished the championship as the batter with the most runs, having scored 364 runs and a century in seven matches.
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