‘Too much U-19 cricket is dangerous’: Dravid says age-group matches serve limited purpose

There have been several changes in the Indian cricket set-up since Rahul Dravid took over as coach of the national junior and ‘A’ teams. But perhaps one of the most significant ones is the focus on limiting age-group cricket.

Players are now barred from playing in more than one Under-19 World Cup and someone like Prithvi Shaw was consciously left out of the U-19 Asia Cup squad to concentrate on First-Class cricket for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.

“One of the things I realised when I took over the U-19 team was people stay on and play too much of Under-19, which is dangerous,” the former India captain said on the sidelines of a FICCI event on Tuesday.

“So we took the decision of not allowing any player to play two U-19 World Cups. This meant five of the players from the last World Cup, who are eligible for the coming one in January, won’t be playing,” he was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

The unusual approach is evidently bearing fruit, with Shaw scoring a solid century against Tamil Nadu on the very day these comments were made.

“Guys like Washington Sundar, Zeeshan Ansari, Mahipal Lomror, and Armaan Jaffer have all been picked in their first-class sides,” Dravid said, according to Cricbuzz. “That is a positive for me. Even the state associations are looking ahead. They are not forcing them to play U-19 cricket.

“Age-group cricket has a purpose to solve but it’s limited. Then on they have to go and play men’s cricket. That’s what we decided with Prithvi as well,” he added.

However, Dravid also batted for Under-23 cricket, which is increasingly being considered redundant. “I don’t think it will ever be redundant completely,” he said, according to The Hindu. “Yes, the quality of cricket might not always be great but it still provides an opportunity for players.

“It’s hard to make it to the state teams at the Under-19 level. Not everyone can play for India and not everyone can make the state team immediately after Under-19. U-23 gives you a platform to push your case. It’s an important bridge.”

With India A having provided the national team with a steady supply chain of quality players such as Karun Nair and Kuldeep Yadav, Dravid’s methods have proven to be successful and augurs well for the future of Indian cricket.