Under the keen eye of former India captain Rahul Dravid, the India Under-19s are shaping into a strong force. The coach, his team and the selectors have been making an effort to give as many players an opportunity as possible. To that end, two different squads have been picked for the one-day and four-day matches against England Under-19s. During an interaction, Dravid gave an insight into the processes being followed in tapping the young talent and grooming them. How does the approach differ from one-day to four-day? I think the approach would be to try and learn as much as we can. I am excited to see them and the talent they have. I have seen some of them, but not all so I am excited to see new the bunch of kids and see what they have to offer. We look forward to playing good, positive attacking cricket. As a coach is there a change with the format given that you are preparing the bench strength? There are 15 players selected for two matches; we will try and give everyone an opportunity in that if we can. We will have to go and assess that as we get there. It is red ball cricket so we will have to get used to that. Those boys have been playing the red-ball cricket. They have been at the camp in the NCA for a week. I am sure that (WV) Raman and (Narendra) Hirwani at the NCA would have done a really good job with the boys over the last few days. I am looking forward to meeting up with them in Nagpur. After having introduced the white ball in domestic junior cricket, what changes have you observed? Just from Sri Lanka (Asia Cup) I think they are playing much better with the white ball. They are getting used to it, especially our bowlers. They never played with the white ball, they have played with the Kookaburra ball so for us that is a great learning. We are learning all the time because the World Cup is going to be with the white ball. The more we can learn and can pick up, the better we can get. Everyone is keen to play and perform so while rotating players how do you work with them and help them understand the approach? You try and explain to them the concept that we are a squad and it is about everyone in the team. It is about their development and growth as players. I think they understand that. The worst thing that can happen to you at this age is that you go on tours and you don’t get to play any cricket; that’s the most demoralizing thing. So, there is an effort to try and get a lot more boys involved. In a sense, it (rotation) builds healthy competition; lets everyone know that they cannot take their places for granted. In the future, the opportunities that they get, more than I would say selection will be based on their performances. Was that the same logic applied while picking the four-day squad to give opportunity to players who might not get picked for the World Cup squad? A lot of it was also in consultation with the selectors. I don’t watch as much cricket, so a lot of the credit (to them) I rely a lot on them for feedback. While we thought we will focus on the one-day with the guys that are eligible for the World Cup, there are boys who had played a whole Under-19 season this year and performed but there was no international cricket for them. We saw four-day games as an opportunity for those boys to represent the India U19. It is a big thing at that age. They have all done well in the domestic competition, which is something that selectors wanted to reward and this was probably the only opportunity that we could give it to them. I am glad that we will have a new bunch of boys in Nagpur that they get a chance to represent India and hopefully learn a few things. And at the end of series, you can say that you have given 40-41 U 19 kids an opportunity at this level and what more can you ask for? How do you keep track of the progress of youngsters? Once you get to know them a bit you follow their scores, you have their numbers and you are keeping track of them. I am in touch with a few of the U-19 World Cup (2016) guys. There are smses and wishes and things. You share some great memories with them and it is a very exciting time in their lives. It is always nice to be a part of this journey. What is it that you have identified at the grassroots level that helps create good bench strength for India? I hate to take credit for it. There is a lot of talent in India. I have just been blown away with what I have seen over the last couple of years with the talent that is available in this country and the ability that exists. It is just great that we are able to give them these opportunities and BCCI is able to organize tours, ‘A’ tours and matches (series) like these. The more we can do of this (the better it will be). The talent that is already existing we have to just give them the opportunity and they will come up. Youngsters are naturally in awe of you. How do you bridge the gap? I think they are pretty relaxed. We try and create a relaxed atmosphere in the dressing room. I think they have started to loosen up a little bit and we try as support – Paras (Mhambrey – bowling coach), Abhay (fielding coach) myself, the physiotherapist, trainer – we try and make it very light hearted for them. What are the things you have learnt as a coach? I have learnt a little bit of patience. I have learnt how to control my emotions. In tight games like a tie, you get a bit nervous and tense but I am learning along the way. It was a new experience for me. As with everything else, the more coaching you do, the more you learn.