After U-19 World Cup snub, Mayank Shandilya lets his performance do the talking

Mayank Shandilya was over the moon when his best friend Dinesh Bana smoked the winning six against England in the U-19 World Cup final. He saw teammates Nishant Sindhu, Garv Sangwan and Dinesh Bana celebrating the title on television at his home in Bhiwani, Haryana.
“It was a mixed feeling watching Nishant, Dinesh and Garv celebrating the title. I missed the bus a whisker. My performance was not up the mark,” Shandilya told The Indian Express from Kolkata.
“I just told myself that if they can do it, then why not me? All four of us have represented Haryana since our Under-14 days. We won the Vijay Merchant Trophy together a few years ago. I just wanted to perform,” added Shandilya, who took the Cooch Behar (Under-19) Trophy storm, both with the bat and the ball.
The 18-year-old scored a staggering 950 runs in eight matches, including three centuries with a highest score of 224 not out against Bengal in the quarterfinal. He also bagged 44 wickets, including eight five-wicket hauls. The all-rounder played a pivotal role in Haryana winning the title. Shandilya ended up being the leading run-getter as well as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.
Haryana defeated Mumbai in the final on the basis of a first-innings lead. With this win, they also completed the double as they had already clinched the Vinoo Mankad (50-over) Trophy earlier this year.
Haryana U-19 team after winning the Cooch Behar Trophy. (Express Photo)
“The Under-19 World Cup snub made him a better player. It hit him really hard,” says Ashwani Kumar, who runs the Shri Ram Narain Cricket Club Academy in Rohtak.
Shandilya would ride to the academy from his home in Bhiwani every day in his father’s car. Mayank’s father, Raghuvir Shandilya, is the Chief Medical Officer in the Haryana health department.
“It is at least 50 km one way. His father was very prompt. I can’t remember Mayank missing any training or matches,” recalls Kumar.
Haryana Under-19 coach Pankaj Thakur has always rated Shandilya’s batting highly. However, what surprised him the most was his off-spin.
“Till Under-16, he was an opening batsman. Slowly, he became a part-timer, but in this tournament, ended up with the most wickets. The kind of turn and bounce he was generating, I was surprised, to be honest,” says Thakur, who himself was an off-spinner for Haryana.
Earlier this year, Shandilya made his Ranji Trophy debut and in his second match against Himachal Pradesh, the opener scored a gritty 36 and 49. Jayant Yadav, who has played Test cricket for India was also part of the Haryana squad, and was impressed with Shandilya’s bowling and asked him to work harder on it.
“Jayant bhaiya told me that I have a perfect action, and should also focus on my bowling. It will only improve my game. After the Ranji Trophy, I went home and started bowling at least 200 balls every day. Earlier, I used to be a top-order batsman who could bowl a bit, but now I consider myself a proper all-rounder,” he said.
“The experience of playing in the Ranji Trophy helped me a lot. I was more confident, more relaxed and everything happened as per plan. Beating Mumbai in the final was a cherry on the cake as they had defeated us in the league stage,” Shandilya signed off.
Brief Scores
Haryana U-19 first innings: 437 all out in 122.2 overs (Rohan Deshwal 101, Nishant Sindhu 115; Suryansh Shedge 3/141, Prince Badiani 3/119)
Mumbai U-19 first innings: 303 all out in 105.1 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 97; Garv Sangwan 5/41)
Haryana U-19 2nd innings: 211 for 5 in 68 overs (Dinesh Bana 62 not out; Suryansh Shedge 3/86)
*********************************************************************************************************************
Mayank Shandilya scored 950 runs in eight games at an average of 79.17 in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy. He was the leading run-getter of the tournament.
He scored 224 not out and 174 against Bengal in the quarter-final.
With 44 wickets in eight matches, Shandilya was also the joint highest wicket-taker of the tournament.
Haryana completed the double in the Under-19 category after winning the Vinoo Mankad (50-over) Trophy and Cooch Behar (4-day) Trophy.
Haryana skipper Nishant Sindhu was the vice-captain of the India U-19 team that won the World Cup in the Caribbean.
Sindhu, Dinesh Bana and Garv Sangwan were also part of the U-19 World Cup-winning team.
It was under Sindhu that Haryana won the Vijay Merchant (under-16) Trophy in 2018-19.