Meet Vasu Vats, the India U19 pacer who can throw caution to the wind | U19 World Cup 2022

Coming from an educational background, 19-year-old Vasu Vats was assumed to excel in studies and carry the legacy of his parents. Even as his father, Sunil Kumar, is a principle in a private school, his mother teaches in a government school. But unlike his parents, Vats didn’t have a lot of interest in studies. Destiny […]
 
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Meet Vasu Vats, the India U19 pacer who can throw caution to the wind | U19 World Cup 2022

Coming from an educational background, 19-year-old Vasu Vats was assumed to excel in studies and carry the legacy of his parents. Even as his father, Sunil Kumar, is a principle in a private school, his mother teaches in a government school. But unlike his parents, Vats didn’t have a lot of interest in studies. Destiny had other ideas for the Young Turk.

Born in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Vats used to diligently got for practice at Vishwamitra Cricket Academy, located in Gangoh, a town in the city. His tireless efforts paid dividends as he came up the ranks in junior level cricket at a brisk pace. The right-arm pacer picked up 21 wickets from 10 matches in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and the Challenger Trophy.

In one of the games back in October 2021, the speedster accounted for eight wickets and helped Uttar Pradesh bowl Nagaland out for a paltry score of 22 in 14 overs. Vats finished with stupendous bowling figures of 7-3-4-8. UP comfortably won the game by 336 runs after posting 358 for six on the board at the Gujarat College Cricket Ground ‘A’.

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Vasu Vats steadily making his mark

On the back of his bowling spell, Vats was picked to play for India U19 B in the tri-series, also involving India U19 A and Bangladesh U19. But only after a solitary game against India A U19, the seamer got injured and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament. Thereafter, he went to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for undergoing rehabilitation.

Meet Vasu Vats, the India U19 pacer who can throw caution to the wind | U19 World Cup 2022

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Due to the injury, Vats also ended up missing the 2021 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Boys in Blue won the trophy for the eighth time after beating Sri Lanka in the final. Luck didn’t close its eyes on the pacer as Vats featured in the Yash Dhull-led India’s original 17-member squad for the 2021 U19 World Cup in the West Indies.

But later, he along with 17-year-old batter Aaradhya Yadav were moved to the reserves with 15 members being finalised for the squad. During the multi-nation tournament, six Indian players, including skipper Dhull and vice-captain Shaikh Rasheed, tested positive for COVID-19. Vats also contracted the virus and had to go into isolation.

Vats, however, tested negative and was added to the squad as a temporary replacement of right-arm off-spinner Manav Parakh. Vats didn’t feature in India’s games against South Africa U19 and Ireland U19, but he got his chance in the match against Uganda U19 at the Brian Lara Stadium.

He bowled four overs and picked up one wicket at an economy of 4.50. From the 2020 U19 World Cup, pacers Kartik Tyagi and Akash Singh made a mark and bagged contracts in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Vasu might not have played a whole lot, but a bright future seems to be in the offing for him.