Samit Dravid in a video shared by Star Sports Kannada© X (Twitter)

Samit Dravid, son of former India captain and head coach Rahul Dravid, was on Saturday drafted into the India under-19 squad for the upcoming multi-format series against Australia. However, he will not be able to play in the 2026 U-19 World Cup. Samit was born on November 10, 2005 and currently just over two months shy of his 19th birthday. So, when the 2026 U-19 World Cup happens he will be over 20 years of age. 

The three-match one-day series will be held in Puducherry on September 21, 23 and 26, and India will be led by Uttar Pradesh’s Mohammad Amaan. The series will then roll to Chennai for two four-day matches beginning on September 30 and October 7. The India squad for this leg of the tour will be captained by Soham Patwardhan of Madhya Pradesh.

Samit, a pace-bowling all-rounder, is currently playing for Mysore Warriors in the ongoing KSCA Maharaja T20 trophy in Bengaluru. 

However, his outings so far have been underwhelming with the bat – 82 runs from seven innings with a highest of 33, and he is yet to bowl in the tournament.

But earlier this year, Samit had a productive time in the Cooch Behar Trophy, playing an important role in Karnataka’s maiden title triumph in the event.

The 18-year-old made 362 runs from eight matches and his 98 against Jammu and Kashmir stood out for its quality and fluency.

Samit also had a memorable tournament with the ball, where he claimed 16 scalps in eight matches, including two in the final against Mumbai.

India U19 squad for one-day series: Rudra Patel, Sahil Parakh, Kartikeya KP, Mohd Amaan (Captain), Kiran Chormale, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Harvansh Singh Pangalia (WK), Samit Dravid, Yudhajit Guha, Samarth N, Nikhil Kumar, Chetan Sharma, Hardik Raj, Rohit Rajawat, Mohd Enaan.

India U19 squad for four-day series: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Nitya Pandya, Vihan Malhotra, Soham Patwardhan (Captain), Kartikeya KP, Samit Dravid, Abhigyan Kundu (WK), Harvansh Singh Pangalia (WK), Chetan Sharma, Samarth N, Aditya Rawat, Nikhil Kumar, Anmoljeet Singh, Aditya Singh, Mohd Enaan

With PTI inputs 

Samit Dravid, son of former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid, has been called up for the Under-19 series against Australia. He has been selected for both the one-day and the four-day series. The series will feature three 50-over games and two four-day matches to be played in Puducherry and Chennai, respectively. The one-day team will be led by Mohd Amaan while the four-day side will be led by Soham Patwardhan 

Samit Dravid has been among runs at the domestic level. Recently, his videos of some of his big hits in the Maharaja KSCA Mahara T20 Trophy went viral.  

India U19 squad for one-day series against Australia U19: Rudra Patel (VC)(GCA), Sahil Parakh (MAHCA), Kartikeya KP (KSCA), Mohd Amaan (C) (UPCA), Kiran Chormale (MAHCA), Abhigyan Kundu (WK) (MCA), Harvansh Singh Pangalia (WK) (SCA), Samit Dravid (KSCA), Yudhajit Guha (CAB), Samarth N (KSCA), Nikhil Kumar (UTCA), Chetan Sharma (RCA), Hardik Raj (KSCA), Rohit Rajawat (MPCA), Mohd Enaan (KCA)

India U19 squad for four-day series against Australia U19: Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Bihar CA), Nitya Pandya (BCA), Vihan Malhotra (VC) (PCA), Soham Patwardhan (C) (MPCA),  Kartikeya K P (KSCA), Samit Dravid (KSCA), Abhigyan Kundu (WK) (MCA), Harvansh Singh Pangalia (WK) (SCA), Chetan Sharma (RCA), Samarth N (KSCA), Aditya Rawat (CAU), Nikhil Kumar (UTCA), Anmoljeet Singh (PCA), Aditya Singh (UPCA), Mohd Enaan (KCA)

Former India U-19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand has opened up on his absence from USA’s squad for the recently-concluded T20 World Cup. Chand took retirement from Indian cricket in 2021 before shifting base to the USA for better cricketing opportunities. After playing in the inaugural edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC), as well as other franchise tournaments, Chand became eligible to play for the USA. He had also expressed his wish of playing against India in the T20 World Cup, only to be left out of the squad.

Chand revealed that he was shocked after being left out of T20 World Cup squad, added that he had a feeling of being “sucked inside”.

“That wasn’t an ideal situation to be in. Because personally for me, this was what I had dreamed for the last three years. Obviously, it was a big shock. And it took me time to sort of come to terms with it. It’s never easy as a player, having lost all those things back home in India, to having this one goal, which had kept me going for the last three years not happening. So it is difficult. I won’t say which just happened. But it was difficult. I was not my best self for some time,” Chand told Cricbuzz.

Chand also spoke about his inner demons and said that it took a lot of ups and downs to overcome that feeling.

“That was a very internal battle and it’s a sucker basically. It keeps sucking you inside and inside. That feeling would linger on for a day and then go away and then come back again. The reality would hit me in different phases. Once you keep going through that automatically you keep getting better. There comes a time when you’re like it didn’t happen, that’s it. I’m not even thinking about it,” he added.

Chand, 31, has a point to prove, and started off the second season of Major League Cricket (MLC) – USA’s franchise T20 league – with a swashbuckling half-century.

Interestingly, Chand’s present MLC franchise is Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR), who are owned by the Knight Riders group. Many might remember that Chand’s downfall started when he was famously clean bowled by Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Brett Lee in the opening ball of IPL 2013. He made 68 off 45 balls, hitting six 4s and three 6s.