What next for the U-19 World Cup champs?

It was a Super Sunday for Indian cricket, with both the senior and U-19 teams coming good. Now, as far as the Boys in Blue are concerned, the one question that everyone's asking right now is what's the way forward for them? What is the best way for them to try and break into the senior side sometime soon in the future?

Former cricketers Vijay Dahiya and Reetinder Singh Sodhi believe the future of Indian cricket is good. But they are not the only experts echoing that sentiment after the Boys in Blue won the U-19 Cricket World Cup on Sunday, beating defending champions Australia in Australia.

Though, the transition to the senior team is not going to be an immediate one. History is definitely on their side, after all the likes of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and Mohammad Kaif all made it to the senior team after tasting success at the U-19 level.

"It's a big step from here to representing India senior India. When we won you know we had to come back and play in domestic and get lots of runs, they will get the opportunity in the state team, India A and domestic matches in India," Mohammad Kaif, Captain, 2000 U-19 World Cup winning team, said.

Some of the players have already got a taste of first class cricket with skipper Unmukt Chand and Harmeet Singh standing out from that list.

In fact former Australian Captain Ian Chappell has backed the duo to progress to the senior level, a sentiment echoed by former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram. "A cricketer like Harmeet will stagnate if he's left for too long at a lower level, Chand is a very talented batsman and should be consistently plying his trade at a higher level," Chappell said.

The other school of thought is that these youngsters need to be groomed much more at the domestic level, before exposing them to the rigors of senior cricket.

"They are in a very tender age, it's an age where you can lose your way very easily, people around need to play a very important role, family, friends, or a coach that becomes very important," Vijay Dahiya said.

And who would know that better than Virat Kohli who led India to their second U-19 World Cup title in 2008. Even he admitted that he lost his way after the U-19 win.

The lure of IPL money is definitely a concern, but the smart ones will know, that what's most important right now is to stay focused on the long term goal - The India Cap!