Bangladesh U-19 will hope to exploit the advantage of home conditions as an experienced squad is set to make a flying start in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup by defeating defending champion South Africa in the inaugural match in Chittagong on 27 January.
Bangladesh is slotted in Group A in the 16 nation tournament, which features nine Test playing nations and seven Associate and Affiliate Members-Afghanistan, Canada, Fini, Namibia, Ireland and Scotland- set the stage for the exciting and competitive tournament.
As per the tournament format, the top two sides from each four groups will advance to the Super League Stage and the bottom two will feature in the Plate Championship.
With Scotland and Namibia being the other sides in Group A, a victory for Bangladesh over South Africa will help the host nation top the group and avoid a potential quarter-final clash against a power-packed India coached by batting great Rahul Dravid.
The Bangladesh squad have five players who have the played the last edition in the United Arba Emirates and will be instrumental for Bangladesh’s fortune in the tournament. The five players including Mehidy Hassan Miraz, who will lead Bangladesh for the second time in this tournament; which is a rare distinction.
Miraz is an off spinner and right-handed batsman, who celebrated his 18th birthday in October, was not even 16 when he lead the team in the UAE two years ago.
With experience on his side and recent and a recent winning streak against South Africa, both at home and away, Mehidy id confident that Bangladesh, who finished ninth in 2014, will be a force to reckon with on home soil.
South Africa will vie to defend the title
“South Africa is the defending champion but we have dominated it since its World Cup triumph,” the skipper said, adding: “If we play to our potential, then we know we can beat it.
“South Africa is first up and it is crucial that we make a positive start because then we will have a very good chance of topping the group as we are stronger than both Scotland and Namibia. If we win the group, the pressure will ease a lot.”
South African skipper Tony de Zorzi admitted the task in the World T20 will be a tough one, but said his team will attempt to justify its status as the defending champion.
South Africa having lost 2002 final to Australia and 2008 to India were third time lucky when it defeated Pakistan by six wickets in the UAE to bag the title.
“Defending the title will not be an easy task, knowing the amount of talent offered from around the world, but knowing my group of players and their abilities, anything is possible,” de Zorzi said.
“The end-goal would obviously be to defend the World Cup, but as a team, we also want to show that we are worthy custodians of this massive honour, and we will do our best to represent our country.”
Squads
South Africa – Tony de Zorzi (capt.), Ziyaad Abrahams, Dean Foxcroft, Dayyaan Galiem, Willie Ludick, Wandile Makwethu, Conner McKerr, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Wiaan Mulder, Luke Philander, Farhaan Sayanvala, Lutho Sipamla, Liam Smith, Kyle Verreynne and Sean Whitehead.
Bangladesh – Mehidy Hassan Miraz (capt.), Jaker Ali Anik,, Saleh Ahmed Shawon Gazi, Mohammed Saif Hassan, Zakir Hasan, Shafiul Hayet, Mehede Hasan, Mohammad Abdul Halim, Joyraj Sheik Imon, Ariful Islam Jony, Sanjit Saha, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Saeed Sarker, Shaif Uddin.
Scotland – Neil Flack (capt.), Haris Aslam, Ryan Brown, Scott Cameron, Harris Carnegie, Mohammad Azeem Dar, Mohammad Ghaffar, Rory Johnston, Ihtisham Malik, Finlay McCreath, Mitchell Rao, Owais Shah, Simon Whait, Jack Waller, Ben Wilkinson.
Namibia – Zane Green (capt.), Petrus Burger, Charl Brits, Fritz Coetzee, Niko Davin, Sj Loftie-Eaton, Mushi Honga, Burton Jacobs, Lohan Louwrens, Jurgen Linde, Michael Van Lingen, Chrischen Oliver, Francios Rautenbach, Warren Van Wyk, Eben Van Wyk
Scotland and Namibia determined to make quarterfinal
Meanwhile, Scotland and Namibia are determined to show that they are not in Bangladesh just to make up the numbers as both aim quarterfinals for the first time.
“The squad is thrilled to be part of such a huge event and we all can’t wait to get there,” said Scotland’s captain Neil Flacks.
“Our aim for this World Cup is to finish in the top eight, which means getting out of our group. The lads are in great form coming into the World Cup after a busy summer together. We are full of confidence and have a belief that we can go far in this tournament. We are a closely a knit team which puts us in good stead to go further in the competition.”
Namibia captain, Zane Green, who along with teammate SJ Loftie Eaton will participate in the tournament for the second time, said their aim was to better his nation’s best finish of 11th in Kuala Lumpur in 2008.
“For a small nation it is a very big honour to compete in the biggest age-group tournament,” he said. “We are most definitely looking at moving past the group stages and the focus will be to win two of the three group stages. It will not be an easy task but we believe that we have the players to be competitive who can cause a few upsets.”
Group A Schedule
27 Jan: Bangladesh v South Africa, Chittagong
29 Jan: Scotland v Namibia, Cox’s Bazar
31 Jan: Bangladesh v Scotland, Cox’s Bazar; South Africa v Namibia, Cox’s Bazar
2 Feb: Bangladesh v Namibia, Cox’s Bazar; South Africa v Scotland, Cox’s Bazar