Thread by @gauravkalra75

since india is playing the final of the u19 world cup tonight, thought i'd share memories of their first triumph at this tournament back in 2000...along with my cameraperson hari (who has unfortunately passed) i covered the tournament in sri lanka, filming a documentary

this was only the third edition of the tournament, india hadn't won before but assembled a strong squad. kaif was captain, yuvraj the inevitable star, sodhi an all rounder of immense promise, ratra an assured keeper and several other terrific players

our task was to essentially be a fly on the wall, film the players as the tournament progressed, give a flavour of their ups and downs. access was unlimited, and hari and i almost became spare members of the squad. we were in the bus, at training, at every venue

roger binny, the most decent man in cricket, was coach. and he created a relaxed, easy environment for the boys to prosper in. the same XI played every game, and went through to the title unbeaten. they had so much fun as a group, relishing the experience

some incidents stick in memory. in an early group game, hari decided to follow an indian sub into the ground during a drinks break to get an artistic shot of some sort. were chastised by the match referee, "this is an international match guys".

in the semis v australia, hari said lets go for lunch once the game had begun. i said you carry on, i will stay back and watch and eat the soggy hot dogs available at the ground. think there were 10 people including me on the ground that day as yuvraj clobbered massive sixes

it was clear he was going to be a massive star. among the bowlers he targeted was shane watson. the power, timing, grace in his batting was something to behold. he went to be man of the series. the character in the dhoni film captures the swagger quite well, he was special!

after the 2011 world cup win, i remember telling yuvraj, millions of people saw you star in the 2007 & 11 triumphs, i am among the very few to have seen you win your first world cup. he smiled. later in 2000 of course, he made his senior debut and the rest is history!

as the final was ending, in front of a full house this time, i heard a couple of the guys shout out for me from the balcony. "hey gaurav, when we win, we will all spray these cold drinks (there was no champagne!). make sure you get that on camera. how could i not!

sodhi was man of the match in the final, a whole hearted, hundred percenter in every sense. he picked up a sensational catch, bowled his 10 overs for next to nothing and completed the chase. later that year he too would make his india debut.

unfortunately, i can't seem to locate the documentary we filmed. it must be somewhere in the TWI archives, i so wish it can be found. had some great material, including an interview with michael clarke and a grumpy coach rod marsh :)

all in all, it remains one of my favourite experiences of being around the game. the u19 world cup is about players who aren't still fully formed pros, almost a perfect confluence of talent, skill and a sense of wonder and enjoyment. am sure this group feels it too!