A look at the Player of the Tournament award (POTT) at every Under-19 World Cup so far

[bunda_bindaas]

1998 - Chris Gayle

2000 - Yuvraj Singh

2002 - Tatenda Taibu (Zimbabwe)

2004 - Shikhar Dhawan

2006 - Cheteshwar Pujara

2008 - Tim Southee

2010 - Dominic Hendrix (South Africa)

2012 - William Bossito (Australia)

2014 - Aiden Markram

2016 - Mehedi Hasan Miraz

2018 - Shubman Gill

2020 - Yashaswi Jaiswal

2022 - Dewald Brevis

2024 - Kwena Maphaka (South Africa)

Needless to say, apart from a few names, the others have gone on to have great careers in international cricket. Some can even be called legends in their own right.

It's not exactly a 1:1 correlation but winning the POTT at the Under-19 level implies a significant potential for greatness... in the long run.

 

[Farabi]

1998 - Chris Gayle

2000 - Yuvraj Singh

2002 - Tatenda Taibu (Zimbabwe)

2004 - Shikhar Dhawan

2006 - Cheteshwar Pujara

2008 - Tim Southee

2010 - Dominic Hendrix (South Africa)

2012 - William Bossito (Australia)

2014 - Aiden Markram

2016 - Mehedi Hasan Miraz

2018 - Shubman Gill

2020 - Yashaswi Jaiswal

2022 - Dewald Brevis

2024 - Kwena Maphaka (South Africa)

Needless to say, apart from a few names, the others have gone on to have great careers in international cricket. Some can even be called legends in their own right.

It's not exactly a 1:1 correlation but winning the POTT at the Under-19 level implies a significant potential for greatness... in the long run.

Yup, dominated by the Saffers and Indians.

Funny thing — I once did a little study and found that in most countries, the top U19 run-getters actually go on to represent their national team. Imagine that — performance leading to opportunity!

But in Pakistan? Nah. Score too many runs in domestic cricket and suddenly you’ve committed a crime. Everyone turns into a technique analyst overnight — “poor footwork,” “stat padding,” “doesn’t play with soft hands.”

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Nice breakdown. It would be interesting to see how soon after making PTT they make their debuts.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Yup, dominated by the Saffers and Indians.

Funny thing — I once did a little study and found that in most countries, the top U19 run-getters actually go on to represent their national team. Imagine that — performance leading to opportunity!

But in Pakistan? Nah. Score too many runs in domestic cricket and suddenly you’ve committed a crime. Everyone turns into a technique analyst overnight — “poor footwork,” “stat padding,” “doesn’t play with soft hands.”

Can you share your study to show which player scored too many runs? Pakistani domestic cricket is a mess. The u-19 players go from a little bit of structure at age group level to being thrown into chaos when expected to play for FC or departments or whatever the set up is.

Some get lost in the chaos.

But I've had a look at the u-19 skippers ( assuming they are the standouts) and most go onto player international cricket. The most recent ones are close to selection too.

 

[sweep_shot]

1998 - Chris Gayle

2000 - Yuvraj Singh

2002 - Tatenda Taibu (Zimbabwe)

2004 - Shikhar Dhawan

2006 - Cheteshwar Pujara

2008 - Tim Southee

2010 - Dominic Hendrix (South Africa)

2012 - William Bossito (Australia)

2014 - Aiden Markram

2016 - Mehedi Hasan Miraz

2018 - Shubman Gill

2020 - Yashaswi Jaiswal

2022 - Dewald Brevis

2024 - Kwena Maphaka (South Africa)

Needless to say, apart from a few names, the others have gone on to have great careers in international cricket. Some can even be called legends in their own right.

It's not exactly a 1:1 correlation but winning the POTT at the Under-19 level implies a significant potential for greatness... in the long run.

From this list, everyone made it except for Dominix Hendrix and William Bossito.

 

[giri26]

There was an u19 WC held in 1988 which Australia won beating Pakistan in the finals. Pakistan had Inzamam, Mushtaq Ahmed, Basit Ali and Aaqib Javed in their squad. Brett Williams from Australia was the top run getter and Mushtaq Ahmed was the joint highest wicket taker in the tournament along with Wayne Holdsworth from Australia. The Australians though never played any international cricket, they did have Stuart Law and Allan Mullaly (Who went on to play for England) in their squad. it is funny that NZ had Andy Caddick in their squad who went on to play Test cricket for England. West Indies had a lot of them who went on to play Tests, the team was captained by Lara and had Jimmy Adams, Ridley Jacobs etc. England had Hussain, Ramprakash and Atherton who went on to play Tests. India had Amre, Mongia and Raju. NZ had a lot of Test players as well, Lee Germon, Chris Cairns, Shane Thompson and Chris Pringle. SL had Kaluwitharana, Jayasuriya and Hathurasinge who played for SL.

The funny part is that they had an ICC associate XI which contained players from Zimbabwe, Bangladesh etc in the same squad.

 

[bunda_bindaas]

Yup, dominated by the Saffers and Indians.

Funny thing — I once did a little study and found that in most countries, the top U19 run-getters actually go on to represent their national team. Imagine that — performance leading to opportunity!

But in Pakistan? Nah. Score too many runs in domestic cricket and suddenly you’ve committed a crime. Everyone turns into a technique analyst overnight — “poor footwork,” “stat padding,” “doesn’t play with soft hands.”

In 2018, a WC I happened to follow, there was talk of Sami Aslam from Pakistan. What happened to him?

In 2020, I believe Qasim Akram scored a 100 and took 5 wickets in a game against Bangladesh. Thought he had potential too.

 

[bunda_bindaas]

There was an u19 WC held in 1988 which Australia won beating Pakistan in the finals. Pakistan had Inzamam, Mushtaq Ahmed, Basit Ali and Aaqib Javed in their squad. Brett Williams from Australia was the top run getter and Mushtaq Ahmed was the joint highest wicket taker in the tournament along with Wayne Holdsworth from Australia. The Australians though never played any international cricket, they did have Stuart Law and Allan Mullaly (Who went on to play for England) in their squad. it is funny that NZ had Andy Caddick in their squad who went on to play Test cricket for England. West Indies had a lot of them who went on to play Tests, the team was captained by Lara and had Jimmy Adams, Ridley Jacobs etc. England had Hussain, Ramprakash and Atherton who went on to play Tests. India had Amre, Mongia and Raju. NZ had a lot of Test players as well, Lee Germon, Chris Cairns, Shane Thompson and Chris Pringle. SL had Kaluwitharana, Jayasuriya and Hathurasinge who played for SL.

The funny part is that they had an ICC associate XI which contained players from Zimbabwe, Bangladesh etc in the same squad.

This is great stuff; wasn't aware of of it.

 

[SportsWarrior]

In 2018, a WC I happened to follow, there was talk of Sami Aslam from Pakistan. What happened to him?

In 2020, I believe Qasim Akram scored a 100 and took 5 wickets in a game against Bangladesh. Thought he had potential too.

Sami Aslan played 2014 world cup. I think he as Pakistani captain in that edition. He played test matchs for pak

 

[bunda_bindaas]

Sami Aslan played 2014 world cup. I think he as Pakistani captain in that edition. He played test matchs for pak

My bad. It was Ali Zaryab, not Sami Aslam.