U-19s name spin-heavy squad

Hosts Bangladesh yesterday announced a 15-member squad for next year's ICC Under-19 World Cup, which will be held across four cities -- Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Dhaka and Sylhet -- from January 27 to February 14. Mehidy Hassan Miraz will lead a team which has already raised hopes despite their poor showing in last month's tri-series in India.

The home conditions and their performances over the past year-and-a-half, especially their home and away triumphs against defending champions South Africa, makes many believe that this team has the potential to rewrite history.

"The performance against India in the last series didn't make any major impact on the team selection as we trusted the boys who showed good performances in last few series. Basically we emphasized on spin bowling after considering our home conditions and that's why we picked five specialist spinners," said former Bangladesh batsman Ehsanul Haque Seezan, a member of the BCB's junior selection panel, yesterday.

"We have a very balanced side. There are six players in the squad who played the last World Cup and there are a number of players like Miraz, Shanto [Najmul Hossain] and Sanjit Saha, who not only played in the National Cricket League and Dhaka Premier League but also performed well. So, experience will not be an issue for the team and we would be surprised if this team doesn't reach the last four," he added.

With an aim of putting up their best possible performance in the mega event, the Bangladesh Cricket Board made massive plans and arranged a number of series while also hiring a high-profile coach like Australian Stuart Law to assist the team as a technical advisor. Bangladesh's best performance in an Under-19 World Cup was back in 2006 when they finished fifth.

Bangladesh, who have been placed in Group A along with South Africa, Scotland and Namibia, will play one of the opening matches of the tournament against South Africa at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

The final preparation camp will start from January 3 and they will play a three-match series against their West Indies counterparts before the start of the tournament. 

SQUAD
Mehidy Hassan Miraz (captain), Najmul Hossain Shanto (vice-captain), Joyraj Sheik Imon, Pinak Ghosh, Mohammed Saif Hassan, Zakir Hasan, Shaif Uddin, Shafiul Hayet, Saeed Sarker, Mehede Hasan, Mohammad Abdul Halim, Sanjit Saha, Saleh Ahmed Shawon Gazi, Ariful Islam Jony and Jaker Ali Anik. 
STANDBY:  Munim Shahriar, Mossabbek Hossain Sun, Rifat Pradhan and Qazi Onik Islam