Daily Times

LAHORE: Saad Baig-led Pakistan Under-19 squad 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 April 30 to May 17 in Chattogram and Rajshahi. Karachi-born Saad, also led Pakistan U-19 against Bangladesh U-19 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 U-19. 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 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 U-19 squad:

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:

April 30 — May 3 — Four-day match; ZACS, Chattogram

May 6 – 1st 50-over match; ZACS, Chattogram

May 8 – 2nd 50-over match; ZACS, Chattogram

May 11 – 3rd 50-over match; SKS, Rajshahi

May 13 – 4th 50-over match; SKS, Rajshahi

May 15 – 5th 50-over match; SKS, Rajshahi

May 17 – Only T20 match; SKS, Rajshahi.