Upstox Most Valuable Team of the U19 World Cup – Wilko’s top picks
Here are Wilko’s choices. Would they all make your preferred XI?
Wilko’s top picks – Upstox Most Valuable Team of the U19 World Cup
DEWALD BREVIS – SOUTH AFRICA
18 years old | Right-handed top-order batter | Leg-spin bowler
"The first player I saw is Dewald Brevis.
"I know there’s a lot of talk that he models his game on AB de Villiers… if you’re going to emulate someone in the world of cricket, if you can do it as well as AB then you’re halfway there. But he’s still got to do it.
Dewald Brevis – ABD 2.0 | ICC U19 Men’s CWC 2022
"He was a couple of runs short of getting back-to-back hundreds. It’s just the way he deals with bowlers. It’s almost as if he’s premeditated and said ‘this bowler’s going to go’.
"He plays these audacious shots, he’s got touch, but he goes big down the ground.
"He’s a formidable force for South African cricket, and I think he’s going to go all the way."
RAJ BAWA – INDIA
19 years old | Left-handed middle-order batter | Right-arm medium-fast bowler
"It’s hard to look past Raj Bawa after that huge score that he got (162* against Uganda).
Stunning century for Bawa | IND v UGA | ICC U19 Men’s CWC 2022
RA Bawa (India) with a Century vs. Uganda, 01/22/2022
"He’s got all the shots, he looks in command, nothing worries him or seems to ruffle his feathers.
"He plays the ball into gaps, he knows where they are, he’s almost like a draftsman, an architect, he knows where they are and pierces gaps and creates this lovely mosaic."
DUNITH WELLALAGE – SRI LANKA
19 years old | Left-handed middle-order batter | Left-arm spinner | Captain
"I do like Dunith Wellalage, the Sri Lankan captain. He inspires as a captain, and he’s an unassuming captain in the sense that he does things quietly, I like that.
"So that’s one string to his bow, he leads by example.
'A class act': Dunith Wellalage | ICC U19 Men’s CWC 2022
"Look at his bowling, looking at his control. He took five wickets against Australia, and he took them with classical slow left-arm spin bowling.
"He then backed it up by getting a half-century against Australia. The way he crafts an innings, I think he’s got style written all over him.
"Again I think he's destined for the top. And again I think he’s destined to be a leader for Sri Lanka."