The focus on developing red-ball skills, says India U-19 coach Yere Goud

India Under-19 head coach Yere Goud oversaw 2-0 multi-day series and 3-0 one-day series wins over Australia U-19. | Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

There is a sincere focus on developing the red-ball game for Under-19 cricketers, which will eventually help cover the bases across formats, India U-19 head coach Yere Goud said after his side defeated Australia U-19 in the second multi-day Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

India U-19 completed a series sweep, winning both four-day games against Australia after beating the visitors 3-0 in the one-day series in Rajkot.

“Overall, our approach has been to develop red-ball cricketers over a period of time. That is the reason this year we had all the camps at the Centre of Excellence (CoE), and all the camps were focused on red-ball cricket,” Goud told Sportstar.

“If somebody is able to do well in the red ball, eventually he can do well in the other formats as well. It basically covers all the bases,” he added.

The focus was not limited to skill development. The camps also had a mental conditioning coach, whose work with the players, Goud believed, helped them with their decision-making and handling of emotions on the field.

“We had a mental conditioning coach for a period of 25-30 days so that he could understand them, talk to them and probably work on the areas required in terms of controlling emotions and other things,” Goud said.

It has been a busy few months for the U-19 squad. It toured Sri Lanka for three one-dayers and two multi-day Tests in July before hosting Australia for a similar set of games in September and October.

“If you look at it, these boys have been there since June. We had a camp of 25 days, then we had a Sri Lanka tour. A lot of boys have been with us, along with all the support staff, for quite a period of time,” Goud said, adding that the players will continue to be monitored even when they are not playing a series.

“We’ll be in contact with them, know how things are going with them. And anything which is required from our end in terms of the skill part or anything, we definitely are there to help,” he said.

The overall idea, Goud said, was to give opportunities to players who had performed well in domestic U-19 cricket and assess where they stood at the next level.

“Everybody who has got an opportunity to represent India U-19, it is not that easy. You know how difficult the system is, the kind of grind they go through over a period of time - first getting from the districts to the state, state to the zones and from there to India. It is not an easy journey,” Goud acknowledged.