All U19 captains of India — Where are they now?

It's no secret that India's troupe of young U-19 cricketers have always been a handful to deal with and quite unsurprisingly, the current Indian U-19 contingent has made it to their fourth consecutive final after handing Australia a loss by 96 runs in Antigua. India is slated to go up against England in the finals and will look to raise the trophy for the fifth time.

In fact, the U-19 team, which keeps shuffling for every World Cup has an impeccable streak with the overall record of India being that of four-time champions and seven-time finalists.

Taking place in 1988 first, the U-19 World Cup had its second edition in 1998 and after that, it has been occurring every two years - with expert captains taking charge of the young brood.

Possessing a very no-nonsense, business-like attitude towards their game, the U-19 boys' have been captained gloriously by the likes of Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand, Prithvi Shaw and currently Yash Dhull - all prime examples of cricketers who made it big, is making it big or has a bright future ahead and it all starts from this U-19 sojourn for them.

Here's taking a look at all the captains that the U-19 India squad had and where they are currently now.

Let's take a look at all the U-19 captains of India:

# 1988 - Mylvahanan Senthilnathan

The very first captain of the U-19 Indian cricket team, Mylvahanan Senthilnathan acts as the Chief coach of MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai now. A right-handed batsman, Senthilnathan would play first-class cricket for Goa and Tamil Nadu between 1988-1996.

# 1998 - Amit Pagnis

Second in order, Amit Pagnis took the reins of the U-19 boys' team 10 years after the first U-19 World Cup was played in 1988. The left-handed batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler served as the coach for Mumbai for a while and has majorly played for the Railways.

# 2000 - Mohammad Kaif

Extremely agile on the field, Kaif was well-known for his flexibility and his wicket-keeping skills. Now retired, Kaif serves as an expert coach with the Delhi Capitals. In fact, Kaif led the U-19 boys' team to victory in 2000 for the first time when they won against Sri Lanka. Other than Kaif being the big shot, Yuvraj Singh was also a part of this U-19 squad that brought home the trophy.

Recently, Kaif also played in the Legends League and captained the Indian Maharajas side.

# 2002 - Parthiv Patel

The left-handed batsman from Gujarat, Parthiv Patel led the U-19 team in 2002 before going on to become a prominent part of the senior Indian cricket team. Currently, Patel has retired from the game in 2020 and is a retired expert who serves as the talent scout for Mumbai Indians for the IPL.

# 2004 - Ambati Rayudu

Taking India to the semi-finals of the 2004 U-19 World Cup, Ambati Rayudu was a promising talent. The middle-order batsman and occasional wicket-keeper decided to retire from all formats of the game in 2019 but later came back and agreed to play again. He has played for the Chennai Super Kings and in the upcoming 2022 IPL mega auctions as well, Ambati Rayudu has signed up again.

# 2006 - Ravikant Shukla

Ravikant Shukla took the Indian team to the finals of the U-19 2006 World Cup against Pakistan. However, even though he scored only 53 runs in the 6 matches he played during the tournament, his captaincy was hailed but he couldn't lift the trophy, losing to Pakistan. Shukla last played domestic cricket in 2014 after which he has been missing from the limelight.

# 2008 - Virat Kohli

Definitely, the biggest star who evolved from being a feisty U-19 captain, Delhi-lad Virat Kohli had even scored centuries during his stint as a U-19 captain. In fact, after Mohammad Kaif in 2000, it was Virat Kohli who led the U-19 side to their second Cup, when they won against South Africa in the final in Malaysia.

Of course, Kohli is very much a part of the current Indian cricket team, although he is no longer the captain of the team. Kohli is also a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team and has been their captain as well.

# 2010 - Ashok Menaria

Hailing from Rajasthan, Ashok Menaria played for the Rajasthan Royals from 2011 to 2013, when he was peaking in his career. However, Menaria never really made it big despite his talent and has mostly been playing domestic cricket.

# 2012 - Unmukt Chand

Unmukt Chand is definitely one of the brightest stars U-19 cricket brought. Leading from the front foot, Unmukt, also from Delhi, went on to score 111 off 130 in the chase to the target of 226 against Australia that got India the cup for the third time.

However, the 28-year-old Chand, after having a glorious career in India - playing a lot in the IPL and captaining the India A team, has now shifted to the United States of America and has become a citizen there. He has retired from Indian cricket and can play for the US cricket team. Additionally, he also became the first Indian to play in the Big Bash League (BBL).

# 2014 - Vijay Zol

Zol took over the reins from Unmukt Chand in 2014 and was in red-hot form. Currently, he plays mostly domestic cricket and has also played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

# 2016 - Ishan Kishan

Yet another vibrant star from U-19 cricket, Ishan Kishan is a power player and has proven his worth time and again in T20 cricket. Making his debut in 2021 for the Indian cricket team, Kishan is a familiar face in the domestic cricket circuit and is a treasure in IPL for the Mumbai Indians.

# 2018 - Prithvi Shaw

Another big talent that emerged from the U-19 World Cup, Prithvi Shaw made a lot of ripples in the domestic circuit, before stepping it up in the IPL for the Delhi Capitals. Leading the team to their fourth World Cup victory, the highest-ever number of wins by any side, Shaw is the last U-19 captain to have lifted the trophy. Currently, Shaw also plays for the Indian team and the IPL.

Yash Dhull, who has also scored a century for the Indian side and is from Delhi, will get the chance to take India to their fifth Cup win when they clash against England in the 2022 U-19 World Cup finals.

# 2020 - Priyam Garg

Before Yash Dhull, Priyam Garg manned the U-19 boys' side that also went to the finals. Garg is a right-handed batsman who plays for Uttar Pradesh and in the IPL, Garg plays for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.