Fearless Tigers await tough challenge
After a long interval of eight days, Bangladesh U-19s will finally play against India in the last quarter-final of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup on Friday. The winning team will take on Pakistan in the semi-finals, while the other two semi-finalists – Australia and Afghanistan will face-off each other.
Damien Wright, the coach of the Bangladesh U-19s, who has previously worked with the senior New Zealand side, Hobart Hurricanes, Cricket Tasmania, Cricket Victoria and Melbourne Stars, thinks their performance was under par against England in the last group match.
"We had a disappointing game by our standards against England. We had a lot of time to reassess and have a think about conditions and how we're playing. The eight days have been huge for us. If we had to keep going and play one or two days after that game, the mood could have been different.
“We are grateful for the time we've had, we're in good spirits, have enjoyed really good training days and the boys are confident going into the game. You have to have that belief and we're against the favorites, so you have played them eventually," he reportedly said.
Their next game will take place on the same ground where Australia’s Lloyd Pope took a record 8 for 35 to knock England out of the tournament. Hence, the Bangladeshi side could bring their spinners Afif Hossain and Tipu Sultan into the game.
"The bounce will be a little different compared to where we came from at Lincoln or where India are coming from [in Mount Manganui]. That will be the element of surprise, we're hoping. That was one of the major areas where we didn't do well against England. I'm grateful we played that game here and will use it to our advantage for sure.
"We're also lucky to have a fantastic analyst in Salauddin, and he's done a lot of research on the Indian team. You must do that. I won't say too much about the last game here (Australia v England), but a leg spinner (Pope) took 8 for 35 and bowled a lot of wrong 'uns.
“You need to know if you haven't played against the opposition a lot, you need to look at them. We've certainly looked at them, there are a few dangerous players in there. It's about us making sure we prepare as well as we can and get our A games in order," Wright stated.
The Australian hopes their win over India at the Under-19 Asia Cup at Kuala Lumpur in November will have a great impact on his players. According to him, the junior Tigers will go in with no fears.
Damien said, "Yes, it was a huge thing for the boys, to know that they can compete and beat them. India had about five to six players missing in that game, but still, you play against the team you're up against on the day. We will be going in with no fear."
"The guys know there's huge support for them back home, I've tried to downplay that as much as possible, there's enough pressure on these young fellows playing in the World Cup, so you don't want to be worrying about what's happening back home.
"I, as the coach, try and take the pressure away from them and let them express themselves. I've to do that and let them play freely. If you do that, you'll play good cricket. There's pressure on them anyway, certainly from back home, from various sections of people, and we all understand that's coming. But we'll try and have a bit of fun on Friday,” he said.
