Raj Bawa Has A Special Connection With Yuvraj Singh: India’s under-19 team have made a stunning start to their Under-19 World Cup in the West Indies by winning all three of their group matches, despite being depleted of a number of players in the last two matches due to covid-19 in the Indian camp.
Their next match is the quarter-final against defending champions Bangladesh. India defeated South Africa in the first group match by 45 runs before registering utterly one-sided wins over Ireland by 174 runs and Uganda by 326 runs.
One of the heroes of the third match was Raj Bawa, a 19-year old all-rounder from Himachal Pradesh. Bawa smashed 162 runs off 108 balls, in an innings laced with 14 fours and 8 sixes, and staged a massive 206-run stand with opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who scored 144 runs off 120 deliveries.
Bawa reached his fifty in 44 balls, and then accelerated to breach the three-figure mark in only 69 balls; he brought up his 150 off 101 balls and tore into the Uganda bowlers to take India to 405. The bowlers made a light work of the second innings by bowling the opposition out for a paltry total of 79, winning the game by a massive 326-run margin.
Now, with his terrific Man of the Match performance, the name of Raj Bawa has taken a keen interest from fans who have learned some really interesting facts about the youngster – one of which is his special connection with former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.
Raj Bawa is a rare type of cricketer who bowls pace right-handed, but bats with the left hand! In fact, he changed his batting style after coming closer to Yuvraj Singh when Yuvraj used to train under Raj’s father, Sukhwinder.
Yuvraj is an idol for Raj: he also wears the number 12 jersey as Yuvraj; while Yuvraj Singh’s birthday falls on 12th December, Raj’s birthday on 12th November.
Recently, in an interview, Raj Bawa also revealed that Yuvraj Singh is his idol. He said: “My Idol is Yuvraj Singh, I have met him and taken lots of autographs”.
Raj Bawa is the grandson of Olympic hockey medalist, Tralochan Bawa, who was part of the Indian team at the 1948 London Olympic Games. His father, Sukhwinder, used to play hockey for Haryana junior team and also tried his hand in cricket. In 1988, he was also selected for the Under-19 camp, however, due to a slip disc injury, Sukhwinder was forced to settle to cricket coaching from the age of just 22.
The 19-year-old will hope to continue on his father’s dream as play for India one day.
