Sons of legends ready to make their own mark

At first glance, the selection of Aaryavir Sehwag and Anvay Dravid in India’s Under-19 One-day squad for the upcoming Australia series seems tailor made for a nepotism charge. Here are the sons of two of Indian cricket’s most celebrated names, Virender Se hwag and Rahul Dravid, walking into the same national age-group dressing room. In a country where connections can sometimes count for as much as competence, the scepticism is understandable. The obvious question is whether either would have been selected had his surname not carried the weight of a cricketing dynasty. It is a legitimate question, and one that the selectors should not dismiss merely because the boys happen to be talented.

The Under-19 team is not a ceremonial platform for famous families. It is an important rung on the ladder to the senior national side, and places must be earned on merit. This is where the numbers make the easy nepotism nar rative considerably less convincing. Aaryavir has al ready assembled an impressive record in age-group cricket. He scored a remark able 297 off 309 balls for Delhi Under-19 against Meghalaya in the 2024 Cooch Behar Trophy and followed that with 496 runs in the 2025 edition. A near-tri ple-century is eye-catching; backing it up with a substantial aggregate the following season makes it hard to dismiss as a one-off. Wicket-keeper Anvay, too, has more than a famous surname to recommend him.

He scored 220 runs in six innings in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and subsequently earned India Under-19 recognition. On the recent Sri Lanka tour, he announced himself with an impressive 87 off 67 balls, helping India recover from 81 for four in a substantial partnership with Arjun Rajput. None of this means that lineage confers no advantage. It would be naïve to pretend that the sons of Sehwag and Dravid enter the system unnoticed. Their sur names guarantee attention, opportunities and scrutiny that many equally talented youngsters may never receive. That is precisely why they must be judged by a higher, not lower, standard. But opportunity is not achievement. A famous father can open the door; he cannot score the runs once the youngster walks through it.

The Australia series will therefore be a useful test – not merely of the two boys, but of the argument surrounding them. If they perform, the nepotism debate will lose its force. If they do not, the scrutiny will intensify. For now, though, the evidence suggests that Aaryavir and Anvay have done enough to deserve their opportu nity. The rest is up to them. Their fathers built formidable reputations of their own. It is time for the sons to start building theirs.