Among other things, the Youth World Cup is perhaps the first place where young cricketers have their first real brush with the media. It prepares future stars for lesser innocent times when cameras and microphones will be thrust into their faces and an inquisition will begin. At this stage, however, the press too ceases to be cynical. The chit-chats are friendlier; journalists look genuinely interested in the back-story of their subjects. And they are ready to hype up the good and play down the bad. Which is, in most cases, the opposite of what usually happens at the senior level.
Even so, unaccustomed to the spotlight, the chirpiest of souls here have discovered that the cat got their tongue once the camera started rolling. At best, they mutter some jargon such as “stick to the basics”, “back your game”, “it’s a process”, et al that they have picked up from their coaches or television. And most of them look relieved when they walk back after these interactions. Their stage fright is understandable though, for they are just teenagers. However, if there are apples, there are a few oranges too in this assorted basket that is the Under-19 World Cup. Some, like Sarfaraz Khan and Charith Asalanka, don’t freeze in the limelight, they revel in it. We know Sarfaraz, but Asalanka who?
The Sri Lankan Under-19 captain is quite a character. His stocky frame is a bundle of energy and could be seen bobbing around during the warm-up football game at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium’s practice ground at Mirpur. This despite their coach Roger Wijesuriya being a hard taskmaster. After their final group match against Pakistan, which the Sri Lankans lost, Wijesuriya made his wards sit on the ground while he lectured them for 20 minutes — the gist of which was, “Avishka (Gunawardene, the batting coach) is not going to come and bat for you.” A few minutes after the class was over, Asalanka was back to his usual outgoing self.