Virat Kohli-fan Nitya Pandya silences Australia U-19 with a sparkling 94

“When helium is talking, it usually means helium is dictating the game,” Digvijay Rathva, who has been coaching Pandya since helium was 13, tells The Indian Express. “He usually doesn’t instrumentality pressure, but past lucifer helium was wholly nervous. And today, helium told maine that helium played a shot that was implicit his enarthrosis and was ne'er successful control. It means, helium was feeling the unit of reaching a century,” Rathva adds.

Very early, isolated from his evident liking to bat for agelong periods, Rathva says helium was impressed much astir however Pandya made Virat Kohli his idol and began to travel him to the T.

“All this talking and sledging, helium picked it by watching Kohli. When helium takes the field, helium wants to beryllium similar Kohli… sunglasses, collars up, fielding and adjacent celebrating a wicket, you volition spot him imitate Kohli wherever possible. If Kohli does something, Pandya would bash the aforesaid connected the tract adjacent day. If helium isn’t doing thing it lone means, his caput is elsewhere oregon helium is feeling a spot of pressure,” Rathva says.

Last twelvemonth Raj Lambani, who was portion of India’s U-19 World Cup squad successful 2024 and a adjacent person of Pandya, came to play a nine match. “Pandya loves to speech and cipher tin clasp him back,” Rathva recalls, “Raj had the caller shot connected a greenish apical and Pandya went, ‘Don’t effort to amusement maine that you are India U-19 player. I’m going to smash you now’ and ended up hitting 2 fours successful the archetypal over”.

Since Pandya is already 18, helium won’t beryllium eligible to marque the Under-19 World Cup chopped and this Test could good beryllium his past successful the age-group category. But waiting patiently for an accidental and conscionable getting 1 oregon 2 games isn’t caller for Pandya. Born successful Banswara territory successful Rajasthan, Pandya moved with his parent and sister to Vadodara lone to prosecute cricket.

“I’d nary prime to nonstop them to Vadodara due to the fact that I couldn’t spot Nitya suffering present successful our colony Anjana,” Pandya’s begetter Jitendra says. “He utilized to decorativeness schoolhouse and question 50km by autobus from our colony Anjana to Banswara for coaching. He would instrumentality the 2PM autobus and instrumentality lone by 10PM. It was the clip erstwhile Hardik and Krunal Pandya had go portion of the IPL. So we thought, wherefore not Vadodara?” helium recalls.

At Vadodara, Pandya enrolled astatine Motibaug Cricket Academy with Rathva taking him nether the wings. And since helium had moved betwixt states, the prevailing regularisation successful Baroda Cricket Association meant that Pandya ended up losing 3 years. “Here, we had to flooded the reddish paper issue. So each that helium played was nine cricket; contempt being the astir talented helium couldn’t marque the authorities team. But erstwhile helium got the greenish card, helium walked into the Under-16 squad wherever helium played for 2 years and past is present portion of the U-19 squad for 2 years. The Under-19 World Cup was the dream, but it isn’t the end,” Rathva says.

Having made an awesome 51 successful India’s 2nd innings of the archetypal Youth Test, Rathva had fixed Pandya a people – to look a minimum of 100 deliveries. Batting astatine No 3, helium managed to look 135 and scored 94, including 12 boundaries. “I acceptable him a realistic extremity due to the fact that of the rains here, helium hasn’t had immoderate signifier outdoors. He has mostly been batting indoors and for a kid, it isn’t an casual accommodation to marque from astro-turf to earthy pitch. He didn’t play immoderate red-ball games, truthful I didn’t privation to beryllium harsh with him,” Rathva says. A 100 was missed but due bully content was made.

Brief scores: India U-19 316/5 (Nitya Pandya 94, KP Karthikeya 71, Nikhil Kumar 61, Soham Patwardhan 61 n.o) vs Australia U-19.