Yesterday at the Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi, the Bangladesh Under-19 team’s match versus Pakistan’s Under-19 squad in the only Twenty20 match ended in a loss for Bangladesh by four wickets.
Pakistan successfully chased down the goal of 160 runs set by Bangladesh with six wickets to spare and five balls remaining. Opener Shamyl Hossain led the scoring for Pakistan with 67 runs off 49 balls, including seven fours and a six. Pakistan lost six wickets in the process.
The victory capped off a fruitful trip for the visitors, who also triumphed in the solitary youth Test and the five-match one-day series by a combined score of 4-1.
The batting of Bangladesh was the most concerning aspect of their game, as the youthful Tigers were unable to score more than 200 runs in any of the five one-day matches they played against Pakistan.
The only occasion throughout the whole visit that Bangladesh was able to score more than 200 runs was in the second innings of the solitary youth Test; nonetheless, this was not enough to prevent Bangladesh from losing by a margin of ten wickets.
According to the age-level selector Hannan Sarkar, the home series against Pakistan was a part of an experimental procedure that was intended to create opportunities and evaluate the team’s bench strength in front of the ICC Under-19 World Cup, which would take place in Sri Lanka in the following year.
“The lads had a successful trip to Pakistan, and they also recently triumphed in a tri-nation series in the United Arab Emirates that also included Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. In preparation for our next home series, we discussed the possibility of giving other members of the team playing time. During this series, six new players made their international debuts against Pakistan, according to Hannan, who spoke to The Daily Star.
Ahead of the World Cup, it was necessary for us to train replacement players in case we suffered any injuries or had any other problems. Even if we struggled against Pakistan, we are not worried about how the match turned out since we are not bothered about the outcomes. This was a step in the process of experimenting with our long-term objective, which is to win the World Cup in the following year, in mind.
In July, the young Tigers will play a one-day series at home against South Africa that will consist of five matches, and the board also has plans to play a tri-nation series prior to the Asia Cup, which will take place later this year.