Dashing Gujarat wicket-keeper-cum-opening batsman Parthiv Patel has been named as the captain of the India Under-19 squad for the junior World Cup to be held in New Zealand in January-February 2002. The junior selection committee met in Bangalore to select the 14-member squad and the stand-bys; the hopefuls have been at a training camp in Bangalore for the past month.

The squad contains such players as Deepak Chougule, Stuart Binny, Manvinder Bisla, and the young left-arm seamer from Baroda, Irfan Pathan. India are the current holders of the Under-19 World Cup. Earlier this year, Parthiv Patel also led the Indian Under-17 team to an Asia Cup victory at Dhaka. This young group of players have an abundance of talent and attitude that make them the front-runners for World Cup title in 2002.

The squad:

Parthiv Patel (captain), Y Gnaneshwara Rao (vice-captain), Manvinder Bisla, Deepak Chougule, Stuart Binny, Irfan Pathan, Siddarth Trivedi, Chanrasekhar Atram, Rakesh Mohanty, Abishek Sharma, Khanin Sakia, Chandan Madan, Monish Mishra, Paul Valthaty

Stand-bys:

T Suman, G Shankar Rao, Alind Naidu, Nitin Agarwal, Timil Patel.

Officials:

Balwinder Singh Sandhu (coach), Dilip Vengsarkar (consultant), A Rana (physiotherapist), Anurag Thakur (manager).

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