Baroda U-19 team gets washed out in Vinoo Mankad Trophy

VADODRA: Days after its head coach Vineet Wadkar and junior cricket consultant Nayan Mongia entered into verbal spat, Baroda's U-19 team put up a very poor performance in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy one day tournament held at Mumbai. Baroda failed to win a single match out of the four matches that were played in the west zone tournament.
While Baroda lost two matches, the rest two got washed out due to rains.Baroda managed to score just 131 runs off 41 overs in a rain-affected match against Mumbai. The target was chased down by Mumbai in 26 overs for the loss of just one wicket. In another tie, Maharashtra scored a huge 323 runs for loss of eight wickets against Baroda. However, Baroda surrendered meekly by scoring just 126 runs for loss of eight wickets.
"The performance of U-19 team was very poor as the batsmen just failed to deliver. It is very surprising that last year's U-16 performer Hardik Pandya was not picked up for this year's U-19 squad. He should have been in the squad," said a BCA official. Pandya had scored a double hundred and followed it up with a century in the Vijay Merchant U-16 tournament last year. He also performed decently in last year's U-19 tourney.
Sources said Pandya's exclusion from this year's U-19 team was one of the prime reasons for the verbal spat between Mongia and Wadkar. "Mongia, who is junior cricket consultant, wanted Pandya to be included. But it did not happen. If a player who hits double century does not find place in U-19 team then it raises serious questions about selection," said a source in BCA. When contacted, Mongia said, "I have submitted a report to BCA president and CIC chairman. I cannot comment on anything."