ICC Under-19 World Cup: Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand and other past India captains

Christchurch: India and Australia are currently the top teams in Under-19 cricket. Both the teams have won three World cup each since its inception. India has won the World Cup in 2000, 2008 and 2012. Australia, on the other hand, has achieved the feat by winning the tournament in 1988, 2002 and 2010.  

Prithvi Shaw, who is currently leading the side in the ongoing Under-19 World Cup stands a chance to become only the fourth captain to win the World Cup for India. The only hurdle between Team India and glory is Jason Sangha's Australia side.

Here's a look at India's Under-19 captains in the past.

Myluahanan Senthilnathan

The first cricketer to lead India's Under-19 team in the inaugural edition of World cup which was hosted by Australia. The team comprised of players like Pravin Amre, Nayan Mongia, Narendra Hirwani and Venkatpathy Raju, who went on to play for India in future.

The tournament witnessed eight teams which included ICC Associates XI with the matches being played in round robin format. Out of seven games played in the tournament, India won three games and lost four to finish the tournament in the sixth position.

Amit Pagnis

The Mumbai cricketer led the national Under-19 side in the 1998 edition. The tournament was the second edition which was held after a gap of 10 years.

The Indian team comprised of former India opener-turned commentator Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif and Harbhajan Singh.

In the three matches India played, they won 2 matches and lost one to South Africa by 4 wickets. After qualifying for the super league stage India was placed alongside England, Australia, and Pakistan.

India lost their opening game to Australia by 6 wickets but bounced back to defeat England (51 runs) and Pakistan (5 wickets) in the final two games. The team eventually finished in the third position.

Mohammad Kaif

The former Indian cricketer led the team in the third edition of the tournament (2000), which was held in Sri Lanka. The event was hosted by the Island nation for the first time. India emerged victorious in their group stage contests, while their game against the Netherlands was washed out.

In the Super League stage, Kaif led India to a hat-trick of wins, setting up a semi-final clash with Australia. India went onto to win the match by 170 runs and set up the final clash against the hosts Sri Lanka.

The Boys in Blue dominated the Lankans, thanks to some inspired bowling effort. India went on to win the final by six wickets and lift their first World Cup.        

        

Parthiv Patel

The wicket-keeper batsman led team India in 2002 edition. India who were placed alongside  Canada, South Africa and West Indies won all their group stage games. In the super league stage India faced West Indies, which they won by 8 wickets and later on went onto face Sri Lanka who they defeated  by  6 wickets to enter the semi-final 

Unfortunately, India's journey came to an end after they were knocked out by South Africa in the semifinals of the tournament.

Ambati Rayadu

The Hyderabad cricketer led India in 2004 World Cup.India dished out strong performance in the group games to beat New Zealand, Bangladesh and Scotland to enter the knockout phase.

In the super league stage India were placed alongside West Indies, Srio Lanka and South Africa. India lost their opening game to South Africa by3 runs, but went onto beat West Indies (96  runs) and SriLanka ( 56 runs) to enter the semifinal. 

In the semi-final India faced arch-rivals Pakistan.India were bowled out for 169 runs as Pakistan finished the chase with 5 wickets to spare.

Ravi Kant Shukla                   

Ravi Kant Shukla led the side in the 2006 edition. Team India was on a rampage as they thrashed every team in the tournament before setting up a final clash against arch-rivals Pakistan led by current Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Khan.

After bowling out Pakistan for 109 runs, India were the favourites to win the title, but they fell short by 38 runs after being bundled out for 71. Pakistan won the title thanks to some inspired bowling performance by the pacers, especially Anwar Ali who bowled a devastating spell to finish the match with figures of 5/35.

 Virat Kohli

The current Team India skipper who is ruling the cricketing world led from the front during the 2008 edition which took place in Malaysia. India got off to a strong start in the tournament by winning their opening game against Papa New Guinea by 195 runs. In the next two games, India went on to register crucial victories with Virat Kohli scoring a century against West Indies.

In the quarterfinals, India easily beat England by seven wickets, while in the semifinals against New Zealand, rain played a huge role as India won the ticket to the final after winning the game by Duckworth Lewis method.

In the final against South Africa, India set RSA with an easy target of 160 but the Indian bowling restricted the batsmen and led India to its second U-19 World Cup victory.

Ashok Menaria

The all-rounder from Rajasthan led the Indian colts in 2010 edition. Indian started the tournament with two straight victories before losing to England by 6 wickets in the final group game. India's journey was shortlived as they lost to Pakistan by 2 wickets in the quarterfinal stage. The boys went to finish the tournament in the sixth position.  

Unmukt Chand

The Delhi cricketer led the team in the 2012 edition hosted by Australia in the state of Queensland. India started the tournament on losing note after losing to West Indies by 4 wickets in their first game. They went on to win their games against Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea to qualify for the knockout stage.

In the quarter-final stage, they managed to pull off a one-wicket heist against Pakistan. In the semi-finals, India almost lost the game to New Zealand, but they held their nerves to register a thrilling 9-run win.

In the final, defending champions Australia could not outplay India as skipper Unmukt Chand led from the front with a stunning century (unbeaten 111 off 130 balls with seven fours and six sixes) and helping the team lift the trophy for the third time.

Vijay Zol

The Maharashtra batsman led the team in the 2014 edition held at the United Arab Emirates. India started the tournament by winning their all three league matches against Pakistan, Scotland and Papua New Guenia. The Boys in Blue couldn't go further in the tournament as their march was halted by England in the quarterfinals. India managed to finish the tournament in the fifth position.

Ishan Kishan

The youngster from Jharkhand led the team in the 2016 edition which was played in Bangladesh. India finished the league stage with three wins out of three matches against Nepal, New Zealand, and Ireland.

India then went on to easily win their quarterfinal match against Namibia by 197 runs. In the semi-final, they defeated Sri Lanka by 97 runs to set up a final clash against West Indies.

In the finals, the West Indies bowlers bowled really well to bundle out India for 145 runs. The batsman ensured that they were no hiccups in the chase, as they won the match by 5 wickets and went on to lift the title.