U-19s off to South Africa
The Bangladesh under-19 cricket team left here for Durban early today to play a seven-match one-day series against South Africa. The two teams have already played a series this year. Reigning world champions South Africa had come to Bangladesh in April to play seven one-dayers, a series which Bangladesh won 6-1.
With the U-19 World Cup due to take place in Bangladesh in January next year, the Bangladesh Cricket Board is making an attempt to host as many matches as possible for the junior national team.
Speaking to reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday, Bangladesh U-19 captain, Mehidy Hassan Miraz said, "It will be a very good tour for our World Cup preparations. Since the start of June we have been practising very hard for this tour. There will be plenty of challenges there with regards to the conditions and the weather over there.
"In order to adjust to those we have trained on bouncy wickets in the BKSP and we have also batted against deliveries bouncing off granite boards in order to get used to the height of the bounce over there," he added.
Inspired by the senior Bangladeshi side's victory over India, Miraz hoped that his side could continue their good run against their South African counterparts.
The visitors will begin their tour with a warm-up game on July 2 at the Chatsworth Cricket Oval. They will play their first two one-day matches on July 5 and 6 at the Sahara Stadium Kingsmead. The teams will then face off at the Pietermaritzburg Oval for the next three ODIs on July 10, 12 and 14. The final two ODIs will take place on July 17 and 19 at the Chatsworth Cricket Oval and Sahara Stadium Kingsmead respectively. The team is scheduled to return home on July 21.
U-19 SQUAD
Joyraj Sheik Imon, Mohammad Saif Hassan, Pinak Ghosh, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (vice-captain), Mehidy Hassan Miraz (captain), Saifuddin, Shahanur Rahman, Mohammad Abdul Halim, Mehede Hasan, Rifat Pradhan, Sanjit Saha, Saleh Ahmed Shawon Gazi, Prosenjit Das, Mosabbek Hossain Sun.
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