Ahmedabad: Nishant Sindhu led Haryana to victory in the Vijay Merchant U16 Trophy exactly two years ago. Last season, as the pandemic continued and no cricket was played, Sindhu, like hundreds of young aspiring cricketers in India, was disappointed.
As he led Haryana to another national title win on Monday, this time in the prestigious Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy finals at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Sindhu and his teammates only vindicated the belief and hard work being put in by the Haryana Cricket Association.
Haryana beat Maharashtra by six wickets in the finals to cap off a campaign where the team didn’t lose a single game – both in the league stage and the knockouts. Incidentally, the last time Haryana had won the Under-19 title was way back in 2002-03.
“It was disappointing to lose out on good cricket opportunities last season due to the pandemic. We would talk among ourselves and keep encouraging each other. The players were also hungry to do well knowing the U-19 World Cup is going to take place next year,” said 17-year-old Sindhu, son of a former state-level boxer from Rohtak.
A left-hander, he scored 299 runs and took 12 wickets for Haryana in the tournament.
Gruelling one-month camp did the trick
HCA had organised a tough month-long camp in Faridabad where about 50 players from various parts of Haryana were invited.
“Since it was the season’s first tournament, HCA planned the preparations and the players went through high-intensity training during the camp. They even travelled to nearby districts to play practice matches. They had to undergo two fitness tests, 2km run and sprint repeat within stipulated time, twice. By the end of the camp, all were match-fit. Then a pool of six-seven qualified coaches, including first-class cricketers Pankaj Thakur, Vijay Yadav, Sonu Rathee, Gaurav Vashisht and Vishal Sahni, were given charge of the camp. HCA asked a dietician to plan their menus during their stay. HCA wanted the team to clinch the title,” said former Haryana Ranji Trophy cricketer and now senior coach Ashwini Kumar.
Haryana beat Uttarakhand, Baroda, Kerala and West Bengal in the league stage in Hyderabad. They won against top-team Vidarbha in the quarter-finals and then beat Rajasthan in the semi-finals at Ahmedabad.
HCA went all out to motivate players
A few months ago, HCA also came to the rescue of the players whose parents lost jobs or faced pay cut due to the pandemic, just to make sure the cricketers did not suffer. A message was sent out to smaller districts like Panchkula, Rohtak and Bhiwani to ask the players to start training in batches after the second lockdown ended.
“HCA has progressed immensely under former HCA secretary and ex-BCCI treasurer Anirudh Choudhary. He takes personal interest in all teams. The way he planned the camp for our U-19 team speaks a lot. We knew the same bunch which won us the Vijay Merchant Trophy two seasons ago, was with us for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, so we fine-tuned their skills like that,” added Kumar.
The Haryana U-19 team coach and former Ranji Trophy cricketer Pankaj Thakur also heaped praises on the players.
“The players were pumped up ahead of the camp. They just wanted to play cricket, get match-fit and compete in the tournament for the title. Then I had to tell them about the importance of doing well in the tournament and also keep them calm at the same time as they were experiencing the bubble for the first time. I spoke to coaches of other state coaches also. We had the longest preparatory camp with set goals,” said the coach, who felt beating Vidarbha in the low-scoring quarter-finals was the best performance of the team. Batting first, Haryana scored 171 runs and thereafter bowled out Vidarbha at 164.
The road ahead
A Challenger Trophy for U-19 will be organised soon by the BCCI, along with some exposure tours abroad in the coming months, to provide India U-19 players enough opportunities ahead of the World Cup.
“They play the Cooch Behar Trophy from November 16. HCA has planned another intensive camp beginning in four-five days as a run-up to the tournament. The Haryana team would like to carry the momentum forward and leave no stone unturned to win the Cooch Behar Trophy,” said Kumar, who has also coached the Haryana senior men’s team in the past.
