The national side is busy in a limited-overs series with Australia in the UAE, but for many of us, our hearts are still with the teenaged lads from Pakistan’s Under-19 side. They travelled to Australia last month with great preparation and hope for success in the Under-19 World Cup. Things looked very impressive for a while, as Pakistan defeated Australia in a pre-tournament warm-up series, and then topped their group after beating Afghanistan, Scotland, and New Zealand without difficulty.

Then came the hiccup, and it proved a serious one. In a nerve-jangling quarter-final with roller-coaster ups and downs, India scraped past Pakistan with the slenderest possible margin of one wicket. Thereafter, Pakistan’s campaign withered. Although the quarter-final loss meant getting knocked out from contention for the title, there were still matches to be played for the fifth place downwards.

But the nail-biting defeat against India appeared to completely take the wind out of Pakistan’s sails. Our lads lost the fifth-place play-off to West Indies and the seventh-place play-off to Bangladesh, finishing eighth in the overall tournament standings. Considering that there are only eight frontline Test nations (excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh), this is not saying much.

Indeed, this group of motivated teenagers was a far better side than the eighth-place finish suggests. There were competent batsmen like Babar Azam and Sami Aslam at the top of the order; clever spinners like Mohammad Nawaz and Usman Qadir (who is the son of leg-break legend Abdul Qadir) and brisk and penetrating seamers like Ehsan Adil, Zia-ul-Haq and Azizullah. It was also a fit and athletic side, with excellent catching, ground fielding, and accurate throws at the wicket.

This disappointing outcome was actually an atypical showing for us, because the Under-19 World Cup is a tournament in which Pakistan has traditionally excelled. The contest was initiated in 1988 by the Australian Cricket Board, on the occasion of their nation’s bicentenary celebrations. Pakistan was runners-up in that inaugural edition, conceding the final to Australia. Since then they have made the final on three other occasions, going on to lift the title in 2004 and 2006. This is a distinctly better record than what Pakistan’s national side has managed in the adult counterpart. Out of nine Under-19 World Cups held thus far, Australia and India have won three each, Pakistan two, and England one. That the titles have gone to the major Test nations shows the robustness and elite standard of the contests.

Despite the latest defeat, the head-to-head record in Under-19 World Cup matches between Pakistan and India still heavily favours Pakistan, who has so far won five out of the seven of these contests. Some of the previous matches have been dramatic cliff-hangers too. In the 2006 final, Pakistan defended a very modest total (109), reducing India at one point to nine for six. In 2009, Pakistan and India met in the quarter-final, with Pakistan edging ahead by two wickets with only three balls to spare. And while Pakistan did lose the quarter-final in 2012, the boys fought to the very end, and for this they can be justly proud.

Yet it must be said that the Indians were deserving winners. In fact they went on to win the tournament, which is a resounding confirmation of their ability and temperament. Pakistan’s teenagers can take heart that they were the only side to push the Indians so hard. A few prominent faces in the Indian squad, such as their captain Unmukt Chand, and all-rounders Baba Aparajit and Harmeet Singh, are highly promising stars for the future who are bound to prove an irritant for Pakistan in the years to come.

It is interesting to note that the majority of Under-19 players never make it into their country’s first XI. This indicates that even in late teenage, the cricketing body and mind are still very much in the phase of development and refinement; inevitably, there is going to be wide variation in the ages at which skills mature and get fine-tuned, with some players not realising their full potential until well into their 20s. Another factor is that the chosen team may not be the most meritorious, as youth squads have to be picked without the objectivity of career statistics, allowing subjectivity, bias, and so-called ‘parchi’ or personal influence to creep into selection.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of youth cricket is the glimpse it offers into the future. Over the years, several names from international Under-19 cricket have gone on to become stars in the adult game, including Inzamamul Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, and Shoaib Malik from Pakistan; Graeme Swann and Owais Shah from England; Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Harbhajan Singh from India; Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson from Australia; and Graeme Smith and Jacques Rudolph from South Africa. Pakistan’s current Under-19 squad speaks well of Pakistan’s future in the game, and one can be sure a few of these boys will be donning the Pakistan colours before too long.