Bangladesh have never gone past the quarter-finals of the Under-19 World Cup, but there are heightened expectations from them in this edition, with their team ending the group stage with three wins from three matches
Mohammad Isam02-Feb-2016As captain of the Bangladesh Under-19 side, Mehedi Hasan Miraz will now lead his side into a zone of intensified expectations after his side won all three of their group-stage games in the Under-19 World Cup. Over the next three days, he will feel somewhat similar to the captain of Bangladesh’s senior team ahead of a major game, because there is unusual focus this time on the Under-19 team.Interest in cricket is nothing new to Bangladesh but with the senior team also doing well last year, the momentum is supposed to run through the other representative teams too. Bangladesh have one of the more experienced sides in the Under-19 World Cup with five members of their squad also part of the previous edition in 2014. Tellingly, they have never gone past the quarter-final stage of the competition.Miraz, though, has always maintained a happy outlook. He is a quality offspinner who brings himself on whenever the team needs wickets or has to check the flow of runs. He gets wickets, and after his second scalp against Namibia on Tuesday became the highest wicket-taker in Youth ODIs, surpassing Pakistan’s Imad Wasim.At the end of the game, in which Bangladesh made light work of Namibia, Miraz said he wanted his team to be “serious” going into their quarter-final against Nepal.”It makes me feel great that we won today, became group champions and I got to the bowling record,” Miraz said. “But we can’t feel too happy now; we have to go further in this tournament. With this win against Namibia, our confidence will go up. We are going to face Nepal by becoming the group champions. We have to be careful against these teams, because there can be an accident against them. We have to keep to our process. All doors will be open if we keep to our path.”We saw the India-Nepal game on TV. I don’t think Nepal can do much if we play to our standard but we have to hold on to this level. We can’t take Nepal lightly. They are in the quarter-finals by playing well. Some of their batsmen are attacking, and a couple of their bowlers are quite good. We have to be serious.”In order to keep the players away from distractions, the Bangladesh team management have so far been quite guarded, restricting phone use and – as with other teams, given the high security cordon – hardly any team outings. Media access to the Bangladesh team has been kept at a minimum, unlike teams like England, South Africa and West Indies.Perhaps spending so much time together is helping the players celebrate each other’s success. Miraz said Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who became the highest scorer in Youth ODIs during the course of his century against Scotland, had told him to not think about reaching the bowling record and simply focus on bowling well.”When I reached the highest wickets, everyone hugged me and congratulated me,” Miraz said. “Shanto was very excited that I got to the record. I was hopeful of getting to the record today but it doesn’t happen so easily. It is hard to take wickets when you are looking for one. Shanto told me to bowl normally and not think of the record. His advice worked for me.”There was freshness in the air as the cool sea breeze worked its magic around the stadium. Cox’s Bazar is Bangladesh’s favorite retreat but tomorrow Miraz and his team will be tackling Dhaka and the challenges that come with the metropolis. The biggest of these will be for the players to get their heads clear of the noise that will come with playing the quarter-final of a major tournament, at home, notwithstanding the fact that it is at the Under-19 level. The days of innocence are possibly over for these boys.
