U19 World Cup 2024: One Player to watch out for from each nation

Arshin Kulkarni. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

The 15th edition of the ICC Under-19 World Cup, widely regarded as the gateway to senior-level international cricket, is set to begin on January 19, and as with previous editions, several talented players will be aiming to be at their best to make it to their respective countries’ senior national teams.

The U19 World Cup has seen the rise of some young talents who have taken the international cricket scene by storm. The opportunity to play in a worldwide event at such a young age has ensured that these young men go on to have excellent senior international careers.

Here is one player to watch out for from each country in Under-19 World Cup 2024:

1. Arshin Kulkarni- India

Arshin Kulkarni. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

The 18-year-old pace-bowling all-rounder Arshin Kulkarni is a name that has made quite some noise in India for his abilities with both the bat and the ball. Arshin bats in the top six and bowls at a decent pace. He was also recently picked by the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2024. He also had an impressive Maharashtra Premier League. Despite playing only 3 games, he hit six more sixes (19) than any other batter in a tournament.

2. Ashiqur Rahaman Shibli- Bangladesh

Ashiqur Rahaman Shibli. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Ashiqur Rahaman Shibli is a talented opener for Bangladesh who finished as the leading run-getter in the ACC U19 Asia Cup. He made 378 runs, including two fifties and as many centuries, as Bangladesh went on to lift the title. This included a brilliant 129 against UAE in the final. Ashiqur looks like a very compact batter with sound technique both against the moving ball and against quality spin. 

3. Scott MacBeth- Ireland

Scott MacBeth. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Scott Macbeth hails from Co Donegal in Ireland. He is the nephew of former Ireland team manager Roy Torrens. Macbeth bats in the top 4 and is an off-spinner. He had starred in Ireland’s Youth ODI win over England in August when he scored a 48-ball 90* to help his team post 332 runs. Ireland then defended the total holding England to 261.

4. Ateendra Subramanian- USA

Ateendra Subramanian. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Ateendra Subramanian is a righthanded pacer bowler who will turn out for the USA in the U19 World Cup 2024 in South Africa. He has extensive experience behind him given that he has played three seasons of Minor League Cricket, not looking out of place among an attack of respected senior players. He has the expertise to go for wickets instead of stemming the flow of runs and expect him to bowl at death or in powerplay over.  

5. Luc Benkenstein- England

Luc Benkenstein. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Luc Benkenstein is the son of former South Africa batter Dale Benkenstein and is a leg-spinning all-rounder who hogged the limelight after bagging six wickets during a List A game against Glamorgan. The Sussex bowler has played 11 List A games, bagging 11 wickets in the process at an impressive average of 17.90. Though not a big turner of the ball, Benkenstein is seen as the future of England in place of Adil Rashid, given his accuracy and handy batting skills.

6. Kwena Maphaka- South Africa

Kwena Maphaka. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Kwena Maphaka is a left-arm pacer who will be playing in his second U19 World Cup. He is fast and fiery and can consistently hit 140kmph. He also landed a deal with Paarl Royals in the SA20 league. Maphaka can move the ball in the air and off the pitch both ways. He also played a red-ball game for South Africa A against Sri Lanka and picked three wickets.

7. Isai Thorne- West Indies

Isai Thorne. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

The young all-rounder from Guyana, Isai Thorne is a budding pace bowler. He has been part of the Guyana Amazon Warriors team ahead of the 2023 Caribbean Premier League on a developmental scholarship. He has 12 FC scalps and 7 List-A wickets to his name thus far. He also took 12 wickets for West Indies Academy in 2 FC matches against Ireland’s Emerging group.

8. Jamie Dunk- Scotland

Jamie Dunk. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Batter Jamie Dunk was the main performer at the Europe Qualifier. He was Player of the Tournament in the 2023 ICC Under 19 Men’s World Cup Qualifiers after leading the run-charts in the series in the Netherlands. His 255 runs at an average of 85 propelled Scotland’s U19s to the top of the table, sealing their qualification for the 2024 Men’s U19s World Cup.

Dunk struck 96 off 99 balls and claimed the final wicket in Saturday’s 151-run triumph over Italy. He also made an unbeaten fifty in a 10-wicket victory over Norway and top-scored with 87 in a 70-run win against Jersey.

9. Sam Konstas- Australia

Sam-Konstas. (Photo by Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

New South Wales Sam Konstas is one of the promising young stars of Australian cricket. The 18-year-old recently earned the call-up to the senior New South Wales team on the first-class circuit. The 18-year-old made his Sheffield Shield debut against Tasmania. He has been worked upon by Shane Watson and was the first player in Sutherland history to score 1000 runs across all grades in just his first season.

10. Malsha Tharupathi- Sri Lanka

Malsha-Tharupathi. (Photo by Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Malsha Tharupathi has joined the long list of mystery spinners originating from Sri Lanka. The 18-year-old tweaker has 28 scalps in 20 white-ball domestic games at the senior level. He has also taken nine wickets in his last five under-19 games. This will be his second U19 World Cup for Sri Lanka and has played for Sri Lanka in the 2023 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup. He has also played for B-Love Kandy in LPL 2023.

11. Ryan Kamwemba- Zimbabwe

Ryan Kamwemba. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Ryan Kamwemba is a keeper-batter for Zimbabwe. He was a major attraction in Zimbabwe U19’s two matches against Ireland. He scored a brilliant 112-ball 103 in the second fixture, in which Zimbabwe U19 fell 17 runs short of Ireland’s 265.

12. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar – Afghanistan

Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar is one of the many young spinners trying to make a mark at the competitive level. He is considered to be in the league of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and his height of 6 ft 2 helps him in getting a bounce from any surface. In the recently concluded tri-series against South Africa and India, Ghazanfar scalped 10 wickets at an average of 15.7.

13. Zacheo van Vuuren- Namibia

Zacheo van Vuuren. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Zacheo van Vuuren is the son of Rudie van Vuuren, who played both cricket and rugby for Namibia. He represented his country at both the Cricket and Rugby World Cups in the same year, having done so in 2003. Meanwhile, Zacheo is a strapping tall fast bowler. He fared well in practice match Scotland taking a fifer and 3/50 against the USA in official warm-up play.

14. Ubaid Shah- Pakistan

Ubaid Shah. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

Ubaid Shah is the brother of talented Pakistan seamer Naseem Shah. Ubaid has the skillsets to carve a niche for himself. He is a right-arm pacer, like his brother. Ubaid has had a consistent performance in U-19 events. He grabbed four wickets against Afghanistan U-19, three against Bangladesh U-19, and two against India U-19 during the U-19 Asia Cup last year. Ubaid will be responsible for bowling in various phases and giving continuous breakthroughs to his squad. 

15. Tom Jones- New Zealand

Tom-Jones. (Photo by Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Tom Jones, the grandson of Jeremy Coney, who played 52 Tests and 88 One-Day Internationals for New Zealand, scored the most runs in the ICC Under-19s East Asia Pacific World Cup Qualifier. The right-hander scored 283 runs in five innings, with an amazing average of 70.75. Jones bats third and will be New Zealand’s main batter in the final.

16. Gulsan Jha- Nepal

Gulsan Jha (Photo Source: Twitter)

Nepal’s Gulshan Jha was the third youngest ODI debutant at 15 years of age against the USA. He recently impressed in the Asia Cup 2023 tournament, where he scored 23 runs in 35 balls including three boundaries against India. He was also named the best young player of the tournament in the ICC T20 World Cup qualifier.