Rahul Dravid’s younger son Anvay Dravid has been included in Team C for the BCCI’s Under-19 Challenger Trophy to be played in Hyderabad from November 5 to 11. Earlier in 2024, Dravid’s elder son Samit Dravid was included in India’s Under-19 squad for the bilateral home series against Australia which was held in Pondicherry and Chennai. But because of an injury, Samit happened to miss the fixtures. And this time, his younger son has been included in one of the four Challenger Trophy teams.
With an eye on the next Under-19 World Cup set to take place in Zimbabwe and Namibia next year, the BCCI Challenger Trophy acts as a precursor to pick the squads for the tournament. In the recently concluded Vinoo Mankad Trophy, Anvay Dravid captained Karnataka to a quarterfinal spot. In the six matches that he played, he scored 220 runs with a high score of an unbeaten 82 to go with another half-century in Dehradun. Karnataka won four of the five matches to finish second in the group stages before losing to eventual champoions Hyderabad in the quarterfinal.
Anway, top score of 82 came against Himachal Pradesh, when he came in at No 4 and took Karnataka home in the chase of 236. In that knock Anway’s knock came off 93 deliveries including 6 boundaries and two sixes. His other half-century (63 off 75) came in their defeat to Chandigarh in the group stage.
While Anway has been picked as a wicket-keeper in Team C which also includes Saurashtra gloveman Yuvraj Gohil. So far in the current Under-19 cycle, there are two other wicketkeepers who are high in the pecking order. Left-handed batsman Harvansh Singh, also from Saurashtra, started in India’s home series against Australia where he made a century in the four-day fixture. Apart from him, there is also Mumbai’s Abhigyan Kundu, another aggressive batsman who has emerged as the first choice.
Team A is captained by Vihaan Malhotra from Punjab with Kundu being the vice-captain. Vedant Trivedi will lead Team B with Harvansh being his deputy. Aaron George, who captained Hyderabad to Vinoo Mankad Trophy without losing a game, gets to lead Team C which has Punjab’s Aaryan Yadav being the vice-captain. Chandrahas Dash, a key performer for Bengal, has been put in charge of Team D.
