With an aim to win the Under-19 World Cup trophy for the second time, Bangladesh youth team leaves country for South Africa at the early hour on Sunday, a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official said.
The expectation is high on the youngsters this time around after they clinched the Asia Cup trophy for the first time in December last year, BSS reports.
All of the members of the Asia Cup winning squad made it to the Under-19 World Cup team.
Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby who led the side to Asia Cup title unsurprisingly was named captain for the event, which will start from January 19. South Africa was the venue when Akbar Ali led Bangladesh U19 team to trophy in 2020, beating mighty India.
Sri Lanka was initially the hosts of the Under-19 World Cup but a ban on the Island nation by ICC eventually saw the tournament shift to African nation.
The Bangladesh side had a fitness and skill camp in Dhaka from January 2-7 and they will be in Potchefstroom for a pre-event camp from January 9-12.
Bangladesh U19 team is slotted in Group A alongside India, Ireland and the USA. The top two teams of the group will move on to the quarterfinals of this 16-team event.
The Junior Tigers open their campaign with a match against holders India in Bloemfontein on January 20.
“The ultimate target is to regain the title. But first we are keen to seal the semifinal berth,” said selector Hannan Sarker. “Then a win in that knockout game will take us to the final. Two wins will make us champions. The target is always to become champions.”
Bangladesh U-19 World Cup squad: Ashiqur Rahman Shibli, Jishan Alam, Chowdhury Md Rizwan, Adil Bin Siddik, Mohammad Asrafuzzaman, Ariful Islam, Shihab James, Ahrar Amin (vc), Shiekh Parvez Jibon, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby (c), Md Rafi Uzzaman Rafi, Rohanat Doullah Borson, Iqbal Hasan Emon, Wasi Siddiquee, Maruf Mridha.
