U-19s embark in positive mood

After a few disappointments, such as losing to Afghanistan and Nepal, the Bangladesh Under-19 team recovered well by reaching the final of the tournament in the Asia Cup in Malaysia and that will be the confidence booster for Saif Hasan and his troops, who left for New Zealand to take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup at midnight yesterday. The team will reach Christchurch tomorrow and will travel to Dunedin on the same day.

Skipper Saif and Pinak Ghosh are the only two players who were part of the previous Under-19 World Cup at home in 2016, when they reached the semifinal for the first time and achieve a third-placed finish,  their best in the tournament.

Keeping in mind the unfamiliar conditions of New Zealand, where none of the members have earlier visited, Saif and Co will have an 11-day camp in Dunedin to adjust before moving on to the main tournament.

Bangladesh will play three warm-up matches against Otago XI on January 1, 3 and 5 in Dunedin which will be followed by two more warm-ups against Pakistan and Afghanistan before taking the field against Namibia on January 13 in the opening Group C match. The remaining two group matches against Canada and England will be held on January 15 and 18 respectively.

Skipper Saif's initial target is to reach the second round of the tournament, but he also mentioned that they will look forward match by match. According to the right-handed batsman the communication and the balanced team combination are the main strengths of his side.

"The conditions will obviously be difficult for us but we had a good preparation and we also made a good comeback in the last Asia Cup. We will also play three practice matches during the camp where we will try to get the best out of ourselves," Saif told reporters yesterday.

With the conditions in mind, the selectors included four pacers in Robiul Haque, Qazi Onik Islam, Roni Hossen and Hasan Mahmud while Nayeem Hasan and Tipu Sultan are the spinners alongside vice-captain Afif Hossain.