While the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 has reached its final phases with hosts Sri Lanka taking on the Pakistan team in the final of the tournament. However, many might not know that there is a U19 version of the tournament.
Asia Cup is the continents biggest cricket tournament where a total of 6 best teams from Asia competes against each other. Team India is the most successful team in the history of the competition.
Team India is also one of the most successful team in the U19 Asia Cup. U19 cricket is the stepping stone for some of the big stars of the game. Some of the big faces have come through the U19 cricket. India’s current captain Virat Kohli has also played and led the Indian team to the U19 World Cup.
Today in this article, we take a look back at the 2012 U19 Asia Cup and the captain of each of the teams and how they have fared now.
Javed Ahmadi – Afghanistan
Afghanistan cricket team has seen a huge rise through the ranking and a big reason for that is the U19 cricket. Javed Ahmadi led the Afghanistan team in the U19 Asia Cup 2012. The middle-order batsman though failed to establish himself an a key member of the Afghanistan senior team. He played 3 Tests and 47 ODIs for Afghanistan.
Asif Ahmed – Bangladesh
Bangladesh team was led by their captain Asif Ahmed in the U19 Asia Cup 2012, however Bangladesh didn’t had a great tournament and failed to reach the semi-finals. Asif also couldn’t make it big as he is yet to play a senior International match for Bangladesh.
Derek Duraisingam – Malaysia
The Malaysia U19 cricket team was led by their captain Derek Duraisingam. The batter however couldn’t make a big impact in his career and last played an International match in 2018.
Tamoor Sajjad – Qatar
While Qatar is not a big boy in the world of cricket, they participate in the U19 Asia Cup 2012 under the captaincy of Tamoor Sajjad. Tamoor has so far played 16 T20I matches for Qatar senior team and scored 380 runs.
Prithu Baskota – Nepal
While Nepal have seen a major downfall in the recent couple of years, they were led by the Prithu Baskota in the U19 Asia Cup 2012. He however is yet to make it to the senior team and is still active on domestic cricket.
Sanitha de Mel – Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan team were led by their captain Sanitha de Mel in the U19 Asia Cup 2012. He is yet to make his senior team debut and last played a List-A match in 2019.
Unmukt Chand – India
The Indian cricket team was led by their captain Unmukt Chand. The Indian batter was one of the hottest prospect in that U19 batch for India. However, his didn’t go upward but instead it was a total downhill. After leading India to the U19 World Cup in 2012, he couldn’t keep his performance intact and now he has retired from Indian cricket and plays in the United States of America (USA).
Babar Azam – Pakistan
Pakistan U19 cricket team’s captain for the U19 Asia Cup 2012 was none other than Babar Azam. Among the lot of captains mentioned above, Babar Azam is only one to have achieved the success he was destined for. Today Babar is Pakistan’s one of the best cricketer and currently ranks No. 1 in ODI and T20Is. He is also the captain of the Pakistan senior team.