Focus is on players' development: India U19 head coach ahead of World Cup

Ahead of the World Cup, India's U19 head coach Paras Mhambrey has said that his focus is on the development of the players so that they can make it to the national side.

"Focus for us is generally the development of the player and that is something we really focus on. It is the stepping stone for one of the tournaments that the player will play ahead in his career. There is first-class cricket after that and other opportunities as well," Mhambrey told reporters here.

"I think the process is very important, which we observed last time as well. The preparation actually started one and a half years back before the World Cup campaign," he added.

India are the defending champions of the biennial event that was held in New Zealand in 2018. India have lifted the title four times, the most by any team.

"You can't judge a tournament by just winning it for the larger picture. It is good to win and especially at the platform we are right now," Mhambrey said.

"As far as bonding is concerned, we had a couple of days bonding camp but that was just the ice-breaker for me. These guys have played together al lot of cricket," he said.

"Some of them played against each other while some of them are part of their state teams as well. That is really not an issue in terms of gelling them together. They understand each other," he added.

India are placed in Group A with first-time qualifier Japan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The top two teams from each group will then qualify for the Super League stage.

The side will be led by Prityam Garg in the 13th edition of the World Cup, which will be played among 16 teams, split into four groups.

"Good thing for us is that it is a balanced side. So going into the tournament depending on the conditions your on the position to play at the best level," said Mhambrey.

India U19 squad for World Cup: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Priyam Garg (Captain), Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wicket-keeper), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil.

Ahead of the World Cup, India U19 will travel to South Africa for three one-day matches against the Proteas U19 followed by a Quadrangular Series featuring South Africa U19, India U19, Zimbabwe U19 and New Zealand U19.

India will play their first game in the World Cup against Sri Lanka at Bloemfontein in South Africa on January 19, 2020.