ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s captain Gohar Hafeez Monday said the green shirts are well-equipped for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup and feels the team will go all the way in the tournament.
Two-time champion Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Canada are placed in Group B of the World Cup to be played in Bangladesh from January 27 to February 14, says a press release issue here. The 16-nation tournament features nine Test-playing nations and seven Associate and Affiliate Members including Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji, Namibia, Nepal, Ireland and Scotland. Teams have been divided into four groups with the top two in each advancing to the Super League quarter-finals and the other two qualifying for the Plate Championships.
Gohar said past mistakes won’t be repeated and feels the team will go all the way in the event. “We have had the opportunity to excel at this level, but we missed out on quite a few occasions,” Gohar said.
He said: “We have a very balanced team which has been staying together and training under the supervision of high performance coaches at the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) National Cricket Academy in Lahore. “Our strengths are that we have two capable all-rounder’s and two solid opening batsmen, and given the conditions in Bangladesh, we are well-equipped in the spin department with a leggie, a left-arm spinner and an off-spinner.”
He said a drawback will be the limited exposure the Pakistani boys have got at the international level in the recent past, but a tri-series against Australia and New Zealand in the UAE in January has helped them prepare for the World Cup.
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan has won the title when Bangladesh hosted the tournament for the first time in 2004 and repeated the feat two years later in Sri Lanka, becoming the only nation to retain the trophy. The talented Pakistanis reached the final in the last edition in the United Arab Emirates in 2014, but were defeated by South Africa in the title clash.
Pakistan squad includes Gohar Hafeez (captain), M Asad, Saif Ali, Saif Badar, Sameen Gul, Salman Fayyaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Khan, Irfan Liaqat, Hasan Mohsin, Umair Masood, Zeeshan Malik, Arsal Sheikh, Ahmad Shafiq and Mohammad Umar.
Group B schedule: January 28: Pakistan v Afghanistan, Sylhet; Sri Lanka v Canada, Sylhet; January 30: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan, Sylhet; Pakistan v Canada, Sylhet; February 1: Afghanistan v Canada, Sylhet; February 3: Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Mirpur.