Manal Chauhan returns to India U-19 side ahead of second youth ODI in Rajkot

Manal Chauhan, who missed selection for the India under-19 World Cup, spoke to The Hindu in Rajkot ahead of Monday’s second youth ODI between India under-19 and the Australian colts and outlined his route back into the side.

Chauhan, a native of Morena, said he originally took up cricket to bunk school and would tell his parents he was going to class while he played; “At that time, I was not that interested in the sport, but I kept playing,” he told The Hindu. He recounted how he gradually became committed after realising “there were age-group divisions and that you move forward through them and then play for the State,” and subsequently led Madhya Pradesh to its maiden Cooch Behar Trophy title. Chauhan made his India under-19 debut on the Sri Lanka tour, scoring 150 and an unbeaten 51 in the second youth Test.

After a respectable Vinoo Mankad Trophy campaign, Chauhan missed out on the under-19 World Cup squad and said the omission left him “very demotivated because I wanted to play the World Cup.” He added, “At that time, I did not know that there would be further bilateral series like this.”

Chauhan said his parents and coaches encouraged him by stressing further opportunities would come, and he recalled thinking, “I thought that, at least, I would win the red-ball tournament for MP. I did not know that I would come this far from there.” Madhya Pradesh subsequently won the Cooch Behar Trophy and Chauhan received an India call-up.

Discussing what he has learned, Chauhan said: “The biggest learning has been that things will keep going up and down in life, but you have to stick to your work ethic.” He credited Chandrakant Pandit with helping him work on the mental side of the game, and said India under-19 coach Yere Goud taught him to forget mistakes and move on.

Manal said he is proceeding cautiously: he is “taking it one step at a time.”

The second youth ODI between India under-19 and the Australian colts in Rajkot starts at 9 a.m. on Monday.