Bigger challenges ahead - Chand

Unmukt Chand, captain of the Under-19 World Cup winning India team, said that he is not thinking too far ahead and is fully focused on performing positively during India A's tour to New Zealand in September, for which he had been selected before the World Cup. "I take one tournament at a time. I want to play for India but don't want to think about it now. I want to do well for India A," Chand told PTI.

Chand, who led India's win in the final with a century, thereby becoming India's highest run-getter in the tournament, was speaking during a function organised by the BCCI to felicitate the Under-19 squad. He said that the team had prepared itself mentally to overcome the challenges in the tournament.

India lost the first match against West Indies, but won all their matches thereafter, including a narrow one-wicket win over Pakistan in the quarter-final. However, the batsmen failed to dominate and the team was repeatedly bailed out by the bowlers.

"All the batsmen go out to score runs but most of the time it does not happen," Chand said. "We lost the first match against West Indies, but even from that we took the positives like our bowling and fielding. That we carried in further matches.

"The best part was, we didn't know what was happening in India, [which] really kept us on target. The belief was very strong among the guys and we always felt we will go and lift the trophy. [It] only took us further and win the tournament."

He said his team's half-hour session with Sachin Tendulkar ahead of the event helped.

"We had a half an hour session with him before leaving. The session was quite helpful. He told what we would face there and how we need to tackle it. He helped us a lot and told us the do's and don'ts."

Though happy to be able to overcome a tough test as a team, he said he was aware that they would have to be more mature to deal with future challenges.

"Under-19 is a good platform and the boys have showcased their talent and proved that they are good enough. Our boys are extremely talented and can match anybody but they need to be more matured as a player. It would be a bigger challenge to climb up the ladder now."