Beyond captain Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who are already IPL stars, India Under-19 have an exciting prospect in Deepesh Devendran. A fast bowler, who hits speeds north of 135kph and occasionally touches 140kph, Deepesh, 18, gives India's attack a cutting edge with his raw pace.
At six feet, Deepesh is also capable of generating steep bounce, which was on display during the Under-19 Asia Cup in the UAE, where he emerged as the highest wicket-taker, with 14 strikes in five matches at an average of 11.92 and economy rate of 4.77. Deepesh has other raw materials to succeed as a fast bowler: he can bowl yorkers and has some slower variations in his repertoire.
"Thaniya therinjan [he stood out] at this Under-19 level" was how former India Under-19 fast bowler and current Tamil Nadu Under-19 coach V Yo Mahesh described Deepesh's demolition of Mumbai with 5 for 19 in a Youth List A game in Lucknow in October just weeks after he had bagged a match haul of eight wickets for India Under-19 in a youth Test in Brisbane.
Yo Mahesh had played along with Deepesh's father V Devendran, a former batter, and even won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with him in 2007. Years later, he found himself coaching Devendran's son and was impressed by Deepesh's pace and bounce.
"I had a closer look at Deepesh when he came to play the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and straight off he was impressive," Yo Mahesh tells ESPNcricinfo. "His height is one of his strengths and definitely his pace. He is someone who is nippy off the wicket and air speed with that nip can be lethal. He wrapped up Mumbai in no time and heartening to see Deva's son come up. We won the SMAT together and we reconnect when he comes to drop Deepesh for camps."
Deepesh's stock ball to the right-hander is the incoming delivery and he has been working on taking the ball away. When Yo Mahesh worked with Deepesh in the youth List A competition, he saw a bit of his old self in the teenager.
"Deepesh is not much of a swing bowler, but gets it to seam and straighten it," Yo Mahesh says. "He has a bit of lateral flexion, so the ball comes into the [right-hand] batter naturally. He can take the ball away from over the wicket. It's not an easy ball for the left-hander to negotiate as well at Under-19 level.
"When Deepesh bowled that first ball against Mumbai, I saw myself out there. Against the same team, Mumbai, I played in Dharamsala after playing for India Under-19. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane were part of that team and your confidence is sky-high when you come to state-level cricket after playing for India. You don't usually see fast bowlers from Tamil Nadu - now there's Deepesh and [RS] Ambrish, who is also sharp with the ball."
Though Tamil Nadu don't have a history of producing out-and-out quicks and his father was more of a batter who bowled medium-pace, Deepesh just wanted to bowl fast and he had the physical attributes to do so.
"Actually by the time I started my professional cricket career, my father was done with his cricket," Deepesh says. "I just wanted to bowl fast, even in tennis-ball cricket and later when I was in seventh-eighth [grade] I joined a camp and I always try to bowl fast. I think I have the natural ability to bowl fast and get bounce. Sometimes you go for runs - it can happen - but I stick to my strengths."
Deepesh idolises Dale Steyn and often watches videos of him to fine-tune his action and skills. He also leans on India seamer Sandeep Warrier, his club senior in league cricket in Chennai, for advice on his bowling.
"Do what you know and what works for you - that's what Sandy anna tells me," Deepesh says. "I was dropped from the TN Under-19 team in the middle of the Cooch Behar season earlier, but talking to Sandy anna gave me a lot of confidence to come back. He gave me inputs about my bowling action and always speaks to me like a close friend."
Deepesh recently took a pasting in the Asia Cup final, conceding 83 runs in his ten overs, while taking three wickets, but has put that behind him and is raring to play his first Under-19 World Cup.
"Like I said, sometimes you will go for runs. The opposition batters are also good and I had a bad day. I learn from it and forget the bad day," Deepesh says. "We missed winning the Asia Cup, and now the goal is to win the World Cup."
Deepesh expects the pitches in Zimbabwe, where India will play all their league fixtures at the World Cup, to be flat. He is prepared to run in hard, hit the deck harder, and produce breakthroughs.
"I've spoken to our coaches about the conditions for the World Cup," Deepesh says. "The wickets will be mostly flat and I will be ready to bowl hard lengths on those types of wickets. For me, my natural length is a hard length, so I have been able to execute it."
Deepesh can also give it a good whack with the bat lower down the order. In the Under-19 Asia Cup final, he top-scored for India with 36 off 16 balls, including six fours and two sixes. "I really enjoy batting and if the ball is in my area I will go for it," he says.
While Deepesh's immediate focus is the Under-19 World Cup at the start of the year, Yo Mahesh reckons that his charge can make the step up to Ranji Trophy, if he can adjust his stock length to a fuller one. Deepesh's state-mate Pranav Ragavendra, who is quicker than him and is believed to have cranked it upto 147kph at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, was originally lined up to be India Under-19s' enforcer until injury sidelined him. Yo Mahesh hopes that the young quicks don't lose their way and have their workloads managed carefully.
"Deepesh has the variations, which suit white-ball cricket but in red-ball cricket, he has to bring his back of a length to a good length or fuller," Yo Mahesh says. "If he can bring that into his game, he can become an all-format bowler. It's a small change, but it's not easy; yes, he will surely get better with experience.
"It's important that these quicks and Ambrish, who can also bowl at sharp speeds, are taken care of well. You shouldn't burn them out. In Chennai, it's not sustainable to play all levels of cricket throughout the year for a fast bowler because by the time the [domestic] season starts, they will be cooked. It's important we build a solid pool of fast bowlers if Tamil Nadu has to win the Ranji Trophy."
The road ahead might be tricky for Deepesh, but the early signs are certainly promising.