Modern Superstars who Shone at the ICC U19 World Cup - Part II

In this Part II of my ‘Modern Superstars who Shone at the ICC U19 World Cup’ series I will look at 5 more players who represented their countries at the U19 level before blossoming out and becoming important members of their senior teams. All of these cricketers have had a great impact on the game and continue to enthral us with their talent and verve. Read the Part I of the series here - Modern Superstars who Shone at the ICC U19 World Cup - Part I

Greame Smith

Greame also played in the 2000 edition where he finished as the leading run scorer for the Proteas with 348 runs at an average of 87. Greame would go on to lead the South African side with great distinction after being appointed as the captain at a tender age of just 22. He was an adept opening batsman in both test and ODI formats of the game. He scored over 9000 test runs and almost 7000 ODI runs at averages of 48 and 38 respectively.

Alastair Cook

Cook made his first appearance in the 2004 edition of the ICC U19 World Cup and impressed everybody who saw the young lad. He would make his debut for England at the age of 21 and become the youngest Englishman to reach 1500, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 test runs. He has already played 126 test matches for the English and is on the verge of 10000 runs at the age of just 31.

Virat Kohli

The young Indian batsman made his appearance at the ICC U19 World Cup at Malaysia played in 2008 and made an immediate impression as a batsman and as a captain. India won that tournament and the world for the first glimpse of his brashness and aggression. He has, since then, come a long way sealing his way in all the formats in the Indian team as a middle order batsman. He also leads India in test match format. He is currently one of the best ODI batsmen going around having already scored an astounding 25 tons and over 7000 runs!!

Tim Southee

Tim Southee was also a part of the 2008 edition of the ICC U19 World Cup that India went on to win. Tim made his debut against England the same year and claimed a 5-fer and scored a whirlwind fifty. He has since then been one of the best exponents of swing bowling and forms a formidable partnership with Trent Boult. His most memorable spell in ODI's came when his 7-33 destroyed England in the World Cup 2015.

Trent Boult

Southee's partner in crime at the senior level, Trent Boult, also played with him at the 2008 edition of the ICC U19 World Cup. Along with Southee, Boult has formed the most potent new ball bowling attack in test cricket in the last few years. He is a master of swing bowling and possesses a dangerous yorker. He has played 37 tests for the Kiwis and already has 142 wickets with 5 5 wicket hauls.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.