Bangladesh Under-19 captain Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby expressed that his top priority for the upcoming World Cup will be the mental strength and keeping composure under pressure. The all- rounder was very confident about the happy performance of the team.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced a 15-man squad on Monday last for the junior World Cup that kick off in South Africa on January 19. The all-rounder Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby led the Young Tigers in their recent Asia Cup victory in Dubai.
The captain thinks that WC is a big challenge for the team. So, the players must have to show their sporting prowess on the ground.
The captain said, ‘We have a plan to play good cricket. We know that the results are not in our hands. We need to be mentally strong as well as to keep our cool with every situation. We will move forward match by match. We are not thinking about the strength of our opponents.’
“We are looking forward how to beat the opponents,” said Rabby.
Recent success in the U-19 Asia Cup has definitely raised the high expectations of the cricket-fans to achieve something in the African Continent.
The U-19 team Bangladesh clinched title in South Africa four years ago. Akbar Ali led the Young Tigers to their maiden U-19 World Cup title in 2020, beating India. Rabby thinks that
it would be an inspiration for the team and not pressure.
Young Tigers have a great chance to win the WC for the second time.
“There is no pressure in the team. It is a great inspiration for us. I believe that we can move forward by upholding the belief that something good is definitely going to happen,” Rabby added.
Rabby also believed that the squad members had been together for two years and knew each other well, this is an advantage for the team.
“We’ve been together for the last two years, so we’ve got a good relationship with everyone. We can all understand each other very easily,” he added.
As part of the preparation for the tournament, Bangladesh began their five-day-long training camp at Mirpur on Tuesday before they leave for Potchefstroom, South Africa, on January 7.
Upon their arrival in South Africa, the junior Tigers will hold a four-day camp before they play a warm-up match against Zimbabwe in Potchefstroom.
After that, they will move to Pretoria to feature in two official warm-up matches against Australia and Sri Lanka, respectively.
Bangladesh place in Group A of the tournament, will face five times champions India in their opening outings on January 20, followed by Ireland and the United States of
America on January 22 and 24, respectively.