A little-known fact about Indian cricket is that the country's young talents in various age groups have really proved their mettle at the international level. Aside from the under-19 team winning the World Cup two years ago in Sri Lanka, the under-15 team lifted the World Cup in England in 1996. The under-17 team won the Asian Championship last year. Somehow, though, this supremacy is lost during the transition to the senior ranks. But the juniors have certainly covered themselves with glory in bringing laurels to the nation.

Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, both members of the victorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tank that would be hard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, and Vengsarkar has spent a lot of time with the boys, giving them the full advantage of his considerable experience.

These thoughts come to mind as the Indian lads are now in New Zealand to take part in the under-19 World Cup competition. As the well-known sporting adage goes, it is hard to get to the top, but harder to stay there. Indian cricket authorities are well aware of the truth behind this adage and have left no stone unturned in preparing their squad to defend a title that they won in Sri Lanka in January 2000.

For one thing, the training sessions for the 26 probables were long and systematic. For example, coach Balwinder Singh Sandhu was well aware that the lads would encounter considerable lateral movement in New Zealand, where the World Cup is to be staged between January 19 and February 10. So this was among the specifics that went into the training. Then, after a long stint at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, the squad travelled to Chennai to play three practice matches.

Unfortunately this aspect of the training was hit by rain, but the enthusiastic lads made the best of the truncated opportunities. Further, the selected squad of 14 first went to Australia for a nine-day tour, during which they played - and lost - two practice games before leaving for New Zealand. But most important of all, the authorities, underlining the importance of defending the title, have done well in appointing former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar as consultant.

Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, both members of the victorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tank that would be hard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, and Vengsarkar has spent a lot of time with the boys, giving them the full advantage of his considerable experience. The boys certainly do not have to look too far for inspiration.

The squad, led by Parthiv Patel of Gujarat, is nicely balanced, but only time will tell whether it is good enough to retain the Cup it won two years ago. Vengsarkar, however, is in no doubt that the team is strong enough to retain the title. "The confidence level of the squad is pretty high, and they have trained strenuously. We have a couple of fine all- rounders and a good attack, both spin and medium pace," Vengsarkar said in Chennai recently. He was of the view that the under-19 age group held the key to the future of Indian cricket. This viewpoint is difficult to disagree with, especially when one considers that players like Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Reetinder Singh Sodhi, all members of that victorious squad in Sri Lanka, went on to play for India within a short period.

Vengsarkar said that the youngsters should be nurtured to fill the gaps in the Indian side and for this, the proper exposure would be to make them play in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England. While talking with confidence about the Indian team's chances in New Zealand, the former star batsman, who scored 6,868 runs in 116 Test matches and is also the only non-Englishman to score three Test hundreds at Lord's, felt that Australia and South Africa would be the teams to beat. Things are not very different even at the junior levels, are they?

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