Virat Kohli's U-19 Teammate Siddarth Kaul Retires; Here Is What Rest Of The Squad Is Upto
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India U-19 Side- (Source:@Johns/X.com)
On Thursday, November 28, Virat Kohli's Under-19 teammate Siddarth Kaul took to social media platforms to announce his retirement from the game at the age of 34.Kaul, who won the Under-19 World Cup in 2008 under Virat's leadership, failed to make it big and only featured in six matches for India across formats.
Meanwhile, his colleagues from the under-19 days also had different fates, as few made it to the biggest stage, while others disappeared. This article will shed light on where the 2008 squad members of the World Cup winnings India's Under-19 side.
India's 2008 Under-19 Squad
Virat Kohli(c), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Ajitesh Argal, Napoleon Einstein, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Perry Goyal (wk), Iqbal Abdulla, Siddarth Kaul, Taruwar Kohli, Abhinav Mukund, Manish Pandey, Pradeep Sangwan, Duvvarapu Siva Kumar, Tanmay Srivastava, Saurabh Tiwary
Virat Kohli (C)
Virat, who led India's U-19 side, made it to the biggest stage and needs no introduction. Virat, who is the most followed cricketer in the world, will go down in history as one of the best cricketers in the world.
He is eyeing to shatter Sachin Tendulkar's records and continues to be the key member of the Indian team. He has 3 ICC titles to his name.
Ravindra Jadeja (V-C)
Similar to Kohli, Jadeja too has made it to the biggest stage and continues to be a key member of the Indian team. He has won 2 ICC titles and also won several IPL titles with CSK.
Ajitesh Argal
One of the players who disappeared from the scenes was Ajitesh Argal, the player of the match in the finals for his two-wicket haul. He signed a contract with Kings XI Punjab but got no game time.
Eventually, Argal was recruited as an Inspector in the Income Tax department through sports quota.
Napolean Einstein
Einstein also couldn't make it big and played a few games for Tamil Nadu and also represented Chennai Super Kings. However, Einstein failed to get game time and disappeared from the scene.
Shreevats Goswami
It is worth noting that Goswami never earned an India debut, but remained an active part of IPL till 2021. Notably, Shreevats played in the 2008 IPL for RCB and won the emerging Player of the season award.Recently, Goswami was a part of RCB as their scout.
Perry Goyal (Wk)
Soon after the Under-19 World Cup, Perry left the sport because of a lack of opportunities. He then opened his chain of hotels and currently manages that.
Iqbal Abdullah
Abdullah too failed to make it to the Indian team, but unlike other team members, he made a name for himself in the domestic circuit. Abdullah featured for several IPL teams, including RCB and KKR.
Iqbal won his first IPL title with KKR in 2012, represents Mumbai in the domestic circuit, and continues to be active with the sport.
Taruwar Kohli
Taruwar, who used to open the innings for India U-19 in 2008 and failed to make it big like Virat. However, he sticked to the sport and featured for Punjab in domestic cricket, before announcing his retirement in 2024.
He also played for Rajasthan Royals in IPL and also for Punjab Kings.
Abhinav Mukund
The Tamil Nadu-based cricketer made it big and debuted for India in 2011. However, he struggled on the international stage and was dropped out of the scheme of things in 2017.
At present, he has shifted into a full-time stint as a match presenter and broadcaster. He is currently seen with Jio Cinema as their official presenter.
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Manish Pandey
After Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja, Manish Pandey earned fame and recognition, on the international stage. Pandey became the first Indian to score a century in the IPL.
Further, Pandey made his IPL title in 2015 and featured for the Men in Blue till 2021. At present, Pandey was roped in by KKR at IPL 2025 mega auction and will feature as the defending champions in IPL 2025.
Pradeep Sangwan
Pradeep Sangwan, who hogged the headlines for his brilliant performance in 2008, is still associated with cricket. He last featured for Gujarat Titans in 2022 but failed to play for India once in his career.In 2013, Sangwan served an 18-month ban for taking a banned substance.
Siva Kumar
Siva also failed to play for India and was part of Punjab's set-up for a long time. Further, Siva played for Andhra till 2018 and then disappeared from the scenes.
Tanmay Srivastava
Similar To Shreevats Goswami, Tanmay could not feature for India but played domestic cricket till 2020, before hanging up his boots. He worked as an RCB scout.
Saurabh Tiwari
Saurabh also made it to the Indian team and featured for the Men in Blue in 2010. He last featured for Jharkhand in domestic cricket till 2023. Tiwari also played plenty of IPL and was a part of Mumbai Indians in his playing years.
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