This evening Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will officially declare the 16-nation meet open through an opening ceremony is expected to be as glittering as the presence of the future stars from 16 nations at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. Rather befittingly, fireworks will illuminate the night sky to signal the end of the programme and the beginning of dreams oozing with youthful energy.

Dhaka is now the interim home of world cricket. International Cricket Council (ICC) president Ehsan Mani and chief executive Malcolm Speed arrived in the capital on Monday morning and will be among the impressive list of VVIPs gracing the opening show.

The evening gala over, the teams, who have been split into four groups for the first round, prepare to travel to their respective zonal destinations. Each team will play practice matches before the tournament proper kicks off in eight venues across the country from February 15.

Although it took a decade for the ICC to hold the second edition of the youth extravaganza following the inaugural World Cup in Australia in 1988, its importance was never questioned. Now, the Under-19 World Cup has become the yardstick to judge the calibre of young cricketers across continents.

If the first championship gave us world-beaters like Brian Lara, Chris Cairns and Inzamamul Haq, the '98 Cup in South Africa unveiled Indian spin sensation Harbhajan Singh. The 2000 edition was held in Sri Lanka and our own Mohammad Ashraful and Mashrafee-bin-Mortuza shot into prominence. Australia's Michael Clarke showed enough to suggest that he was heading for a long international career when New Zealand hosted the fourth U/19 World Cup in 2002.

The trophy of this tournament is a sterling silver and silver gilt creation called 'Tazza' weighing approximately 2.5 Kg. 'Tazza' consists of a main spun bowl mounted onto a silver column chased cricket bail and stump detail.

While the logo of the tournament represents the event values of youth and movement, denoting with pace and energy. It also closely depicts the number 19 within the logo.

The event is expected to benefit Bangladesh's cricket massively in the long run. Five new international standard venues have been built or rebuilt in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Bogra and Narayanganj with the World Cup in mind and the facilities will boost the domestic cricket structure immensely.

However, above anything else, this U/19 World Cup needs a strong showing by the home team who already have their work cut out for qualifying from a group that comprises heavyweights like India and New Zealand. That's where the country's attention will be focused and that's where heroics will actually count.