Virat Singh

Jamshedpur, July 6: The junior selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has picked three cricketers from Jharkhand for an Under-19 camp in Chennai from July 8 to August 3.

Virat Singh (17) from Jamshedpur, Kaushal Singh (17) from Ranchi and Prem Kumar (17) from Giridih left for Chennai today.

Virat, who is the younger sibling of U-19 state team member Vishal, is a left-handed opener, while Kaushal is a middle-order batsman. Prem is a right arm medium-pacer.

The BCCI’s junior selection committee has selected the cricketers on the basis of their performance during the last season.

Virat, who had led the state team at the U-16 level, could play only two matches for Jharkhand in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy because of a back injury. However, he played a vital role in helping his side qualify for the knockout stage of Vinoo Mankad Trophy.

Virat hit a crucial knock of 73 against Assam. He went on to score 40 and 37 against Bengal and Tripura, respectively.

A Class XI student of DBMS English School, Virat is delighted with his selection.

“I am happy to get the call from the BCCI. The camp in Chennai will help me in improving my techniques,” he said.

Kaushal, on the other hand, had finished as the highest scorer for Jharkhand in Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy last season. The right-handed batsman scored 316 runs in seven innings at an average of 41.5 and grabbed attention for his sensible and responsible batting performance.

Prem, who is playing BCCI tournaments for the past two years, had made Jharkhand proud at the Under-16 level by bagging 23 wickets for the state team in one season. At the Under-19 level, he clinched 10 wickets at Vinoo Mankad Trophy, held in Guwahati last season.

Jharkhand State Cricket Association secretary Ashim Kumar Singh said the camp would immensely help the three youngsters. “All three of them have the potential of reaching higher echelons of the game. We are very hopeful about their future,” he added.