Queenstown: The Indian U-19 team head coach Rahul Dravid urged his boys to focus on the ongoing U-19 World Cup and not get pre-occupied by the IPL auctions in the weekend.
Young talents like Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Himanshu Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Shivam Mavi would be a part of the auctions which would be held in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28.
“There’s no point hiding from the fact that it is there. It is around the corner, ” said Dravid as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.
“There’s no point living in the bubble and pretending it doesn’t exist. We do discuss it. We’ve spoken about what their focus should be and what their long-term goals are as compared to their short-term goals,” the former right-handed batsman added.
The former captain also said that the IPL auctions are something which would happen every year but not the World Cup.
“The auction is not something the boys can control. One or two auctions won’t really have a long-term impact on their careers.
“There is an auction every year, but not every year will they have an opportunity to play for India in possibly a World Cup semi-final. That doesn’t come very often,” added Dravid.
India have comprehensively beaten Bangladesh in their quarter-final clash by 131 runs. Gill starred with the bat with 86 runs and helped India to 265 while Nagarkoti, Sharma and Mavi took seven wickets between them to dismiss their Bangladesh counterparts for just 134.