KARACHI: Saad Baig-led Pakistan U19 departed for Bangladesh in the wee hours of Wednesday to feature in a series consisting of a one-off four-dayer, five 50-over matches and a solitary T20. The series will be played from 30 April to 17 May in Chattogram and Rajshahi.
Karachi-born Saad Baig, also led Pakistan U19 against Bangladesh U19 last year when Bangladesh visited Pakistan for one four-day match, three one-dayers and two T20s in November in Multan.
The squad includes 17 players and three reserve players. Six players apart from the captain Saad and vice-captain Ali Asfand had featured in the previous series against Bangladesh U19. These include Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Ibtisam, Mohammad Ismail, Mohammad Tayyab Arif, Shahzaib Khan and Wahaj Riaz.
Head Coach Sabih Azhar said: “We have prepared well for this tour, and our boys are eager to showcase their talent on the field. We have been working on strengths and weaknesses of the players, and we are confident that the players will put up a good fight against the Bangladesh team at their own backyard.”
Captain Saad Baig also shared his thoughts ahead of the tour and said, “We are all very excited to represent our country. We have been training hard and are ready to take on the challenge. As a team, we are focused on playing our best cricket and competing well in every match. We have set ourselves some goals for the series, and are determined to achieve them.”
Pakistan U19: Saad Baig (captain) (Karachi), Ali Asfand (vice-captain) (Faisalabad), Ahmed Hussain (Peshawar), Aimal Khan (Peshawar), Amir Hussain (Rawalpindi), Arafat Minhas (Multan), Azan Awais (Sialkot), Hamza Nawaz (Lahore), Mohammad Ibtisam (Sargodha), Mohammad Ismail (Sahiwal), Mohammad Tahir (Fata), Mohammad Tayyab Arif (Sialkot), Obaid Shahid (Lahore), Sajjad Ali (Lahore), Shahzaib Khan (Mansehra), Shamyl Hussain (Islamabad) and Wahaj Riaz (Karachi). Abidullah (Islamabad), Ikramullah Tareen (Quetta) and Muhammad Zulkifal (Charsadda) (all reserves)
Player Support Personnel – Tauseef Ahmed (manager), Sabih Azhar (coach), Umar Rashid (assistant coach), Hafiz Naeem Ul Rasool (physiotherapist), Yasir Malik (trainer) and Shan Ullah (team analyst)
Tour Schedule: 30 April- 3 May – Four-day match; ZACS, Chattogram; 6 May – 1st 50-over match; ZACS, Chattogram; 8 May – 2nd 50-over match; ZACS, Chattogram; 11 May – 3rd 50-over match; SKS, Rajshahi; 13 May – 4th 50-over match; SKS, Rajshahi; 15 May – 5th 50-over match; SKS, Rajshahi; 17 May – Only T20 match; SKS, Rajshahi.
