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India v England, quarter-final, U-19 World Cup, Kuala Lumpur

Opening is similar to No. 3 - Turuwar

George Binoy in Kuala Lumpur

February 24, 2008

	The matches of the U-19 World Cup are the first significant ones of Turuwar Kohli's career in which he opened the batting © Getty Images

If it was time to choose India's stand-out performances at the Under-19 World Cup so far, Virat Kohli's aggressive hundred against West Indies and Pradeep Sangwan's swing bowling, which produced a five-wicket haul, would top the list. Perhaps even some Tanmay Srivastava's super-calm knocks at No. 3. Think twice and Turuwar Kohli would be a deserved addition. His consistent scores as opener haven't been the most riveting but his steady accumulation of runs has made him the highest run-scorer in the tournament.

Turuwar's consistency cannot be understated. He hasn't had a bad match - making 40 against Papua New Guinea, 54 in the run-chase against South Africa, 50 versus West Indies, and 63 not out to eliminate England from the competition. He builds his innings patiently, taking his time to settle, and plays majority of his shots along the ground. As a result of his watchful approach, India have not lost two early wickets in the tournament even though Turuwar's opening partner, Shreevats Goswami, is yet to hit his stride.

What makes his performances more remarkable is that he did not open in the practice matches. He didn't bat against England and made 34 batting at No. 7 against New Zealand. It was because Tamil Nadu batsman Abhinav Mukund scored 13 and 0 while opening in the warm-ups that Turuwar gained a promotion. In fact, this was the first time that Turuwar was opening in matches of significance. He bats at No. 3 for Punjab U-19s, a side he has represented for two years, and is usually a middle-order batsman. However, Turuwar shrugged off the magnitude of opening on such a large stage without much prior experience.

"It's [opening] similar to playing at No. 3, seeing off the new ball is the main aim," Turuwar said. "I try to stick to the basics and I have patience."

He's been a picture of calmness in the World Cup, anchoring the innings and providing a solid platform for Srivastava and the power-hitters like Virat and Saurav Tiwary. Turuwar, however, said that he was only playing according to the demands of the situation because India haven't had a large target to chase yet. His careful style comes naturally but he says he can force the pace if necessary.

"I don't always play like this [cautiously], I have several gears," Turuwar said. "If needed, I can play attacking cricket. This [against England] was a low-scoring game so there was no need to hit big strokes. You have to adapt to the situation, if it needs you to play shots you have to play strokes. I have played rash shots in the earlier games and I learnt from my mistakes."

Turuwar, who is from Jalandhar, is from a sporting family: his father, Sushil, played water polo for India and was a bronze medalist at the Asian Games. His family also owns a sports goods factory 'Beat All Sports' which ensured that Turuwar did not have to go too far to have access to high-quality cricket gear during his formative years. He started playing cricket at the age of 10 and joined an academy at Burlton Park, which has also produced cricketers such as Harbhajan Singh and Vikram Rathore, at the age of 14. However, Turuwar said that his approach to cricket between 14 and 16 wasn't serious and it was a paid tour to England with Mumbai's Worli Cricket Club that made him change his outlook to the game. He's a relatively new addition to India's Under-19 squad and so far he's proved to be extremely valuable.

George Binoy is a staff writer at Cricinfo

© Cricinfo