ICC Shares ‘Then And Now’ Footage Of Modern-Day Legends: The ongoing 2022 under-19 World Cup is into its last stage with India set to face England in the final on Saturday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua.
During the tournament, the ICC shared a video that has got the fans engaged and talk about some of the current prominent batters – Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Joe Root, Babar Azam, Steve Smith and Ben Stokes – compared with their under-19 World Cup appearances.
In the video, the ICC showcased a split-screen – on the right side, the above batsmen are shown batting as grown men, taking on the international arena. On the left side, clips are shown batting from their under-19 days. With some of the batters, their technique has changed a lot, while for some others, they look very similar to how they were as youngsters.
ICC shared the video on their official Instagram handle with a caption that read: “Techniques change, but the class remains. Here’s how some of the biggest superstars compare to their #U19CWC playing days. Which player has changed the most?”
Here’s the video:
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With current England Test captain Joe Root there is are major differences observed – his stance, backlift, front foot – in his technique from his under-19 World Cup clip. A stark variance can be easily noticed with Steve Smith, who started as a leg-spinner who could bat and went on to become one of the greatest Test batsmen. He starts on the leg-stump now and has a bigger shuffle across than before when he barely moved his feet.
Next is India’s 2008 under-19 World Cup-winning captain, Virat Kohli, who has kept in shape with his technique and the disdain with which he played his shots. A batsman who has remained even more similar is Pakistan captain Babar Azam with his awed balance and elegance.
KL Rahul is another batter who has maintained his technique from his younger self. While England’s Ben Stokes has a different setup of feet placing and backlift now compared to previous, however, his the shape in which his body gets when walloping the ball remains the same, and it’s exciting to view.
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