India U19 World Cup hero Raj Bawa: A rising star from the family of Olympic gold medalist

A young Raj Bawa produced a heroic performance with both bat and ball in the high-octane low-scoring title clash against England to help the Indian team create history and lift a record-extending fifth ICC U19 World Cup trophy in Antigua on Sunday.

Bawa became the first bowler from India to pick up a 5-wicket haul in the final of an International Cricket Council tournament final for men. Raj picked up 5/31 as he helped skittle England out for 189 in the final of the U19 World Cup 2022 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.

With his stellar performance, Raj Bawa has shown that he belongs to the elite category of match-winning all-rounders and he has his iconic sports family to thank for that. Raj’s grandfather, Tarlochan Singh Bawa, played alongside Balbir Singh Senior, Leslie Claudius, and Keshav Dutts to win independent India’s maiden Olympic hockey gold in London during the 1948 Games.

Raj has had a dream run in the ongoing U19 World Cup in the West Indies. The son of Sukhwinder Bawa, who had coached the likes of Yuvraj Singh and VRV Singh, had picked up a 4-wicket haul in their win over South Africa.

Raj then hit 162 in just 108 balls in their group-stage match against Uganda. Raj also has become only the 2nd Indian man to hit a 150-plus score and pick up a 5-wicket haul after Kapll Dev in an ICC tournament.

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The Punjab all-rounder picked up 2 wickets in as many balls, removing middle-order batters Will Luxton and George Bell cheaply. He first struck in his 3rd over getting the wicket of opener George Thomas who was putting on a show despite the English side losing opener Jacob Bethell and captain Tom Prest early to impressive left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar.

‘Yuvraj Singh’s influence on Raj’

“My father trained Yuvraj Singh. I used to watch him when I was a kid. I used to imitate Yuvraj Singh while batting. I watched his batting videos. He’s my role model,” Raj, who wears the number 12 jersey, the same as Yuvraj, said.

Such was Yuvraj’s influence on the child Raj that a natural right-hander, couldn’t imagine not batting left-handed just because his hero was a southpaw. “When he was a kid, Raj kept on watching Yuvraj, who could come for his nets at the academy and for kids, the first hero makes a lasting impression,” Sukhwinder Bawa told PTI,

“So, when Raj picked that bat he picked from the left but everything else — bowling, throwing, etc he would do from the right hand. “I tried to correct him but when I would turn around, he again held the bat with a left-handed stance. So, then I let it be.” While he started batting and made it to the Punjab U-16 team, it was only after making it to the sub-junior state team that the father decided that Raj had the makings of a good pace bowler. “He was more inclined towards bowling (in the beginning) because I also used to be a fast-bowling all-rounder. But I wanted to balance it. So, I stopped his bowling when he started.

“I focussed more on his batting, prepared him as a proper batter. I wanted him to do well in crunch situations. I didn’t want him to be a bowler who can bat. I wanted him to be like Yuvraj in batting and like Kapil Dev in bowling.” “I wanted him to be a complete all-rounder, 50-50. For that, it was important to make him bat. When he made Punjab’s U-16 team, I gave him the ball. I had seen him bowl as a child and I was confident that he can bowl better than anybody else,” Sukhwinder said.

“I like both batting and bowling,” the shy Raj said at the post-match presentation ceremony while receiving his medallion.