U-19 Cooch Behar: Haryana beat Mumbai, end 22-year wait for title

Kolkata, May 3

Haryana won the Cooch Behar Trophy Under-19 First-Class domestic tournament after 22 years, beating heavyweights Mumbai on the basis of the first-innings lead at the Eden Gardens here today.

U-19 Cooch Behar

It’s a result of a proper system in place — a fair selection process, a dedicated camp that results in producing champion players — Pankaj Thakur, Haryana Coach

The win underlined their authority at youth level as Haryana achieved a rare double, having earlier won the Vinoo Mankad Trophy One-day tournament by defeating Maharashtra by six wickets in October last year.

Nishant Sindhu, who was part of the Indian team that won the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, led from the front by slamming a 114-ball 115. Opener Rohan Deshwal (101) and wicketkeeper-batter Sarvesh Rohilla (100 not out) also scored centuries as Haryana scored 437 after opting to bat.

Medium-pacer Garv Sangwan, also part of the World Cup-winning team, then grabbed five wickets for 41 runs to help Haryana dismiss Mumbai for 303 and hand his team a decisive first-innings lead of 134 runs.

Haryana then batted through the final day to post 211/5 in their second essay and seal their second Cooch Behar Trophy. Haryana had defeated Madhya Pradesh to win their maiden Cooch Behar Trophy in 2000.

Allrounder Mayank Shandilya was one of the top performers in Haryana’s campaign. Shandilya, who opened the batting for Haryana, finished as the top run-getter with 950 runs from eight matches. He scored three hundreds and three fifties at an average of 79.17. He also returned with 45 wickets at an average of 14.70 with his off-spin to finish as the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament.

Haryana had defeated hosts Bengal in the quarterfinals and defeated Jharkhand in the semifinals.

“It’s a result of a proper system in place — a fair selection process, a dedicated camp that results in producing champion players,” Haryana coach Pankaj Thakur said. “We are a team of allrounders, everyone bats and bowls, not just part-timers but serious bowling like Shandilya,” he added.