Challenge rises for Under-19s
As the business end of the ICC Under-19 World Cup starts today with defending champions India taking on Australia in the first quarterfinal at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, the Bangladesh U-19s will soon have to contend with a rise in difficulty levels.
The young Tigers, who finished top of Group C, will take on hosts South Africa in their quarterfinal on January 30 at the same venue.
Bangladesh have always gone into the biggest age-level event with high hopes and the Akbar Ali-led team is no different in that regard.
However, if the past is any indicator, the knock-out stages are usually where the young Tigers falter. In the 2006 edition, a side boasting the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim were handed a shock five-wicket defeat in the quarterfinal by their English counterparts, who were unable to win a single game out of the 11 played during their tour of Bangladesh just before the World Cup.
Bangladesh went to this World Cup on the back of some impressive performances. They registered a comfortable series victory against hosts New Zealand in September-October 2019 before sealing another dominant series victory against Sri Lanka at home in November.
However, the young Tigers were lucky to have topped their group as rain saved their blushes during their last group encounter against Pakistan. Bangladesh were struggling at 106 for nine and shared the spoils after rain intervened.
It now remains to be seen whether they can translate good pre-event form into their deepest run in the youth mega event.
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