|| CF DESK ||

The Under-19 World Cup will begin on January 19 in South Africa as Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced a 15-member Youth World Cup squad in Mirpur on Monday.

Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby was given leadership before the Asia Cup. The team management has faith in him for the World Cup too. Former skipper Ahrar Amin will serve as Rabby's deputy.

Rabby recently led Bangladesh to their maiden Asia Cup title in December 2023.

The under-19 team has a chance to regain the World Cup title which the Akbar Ali-led Bangladesh U-19 team had won for the first time in 2020 in the same country.

"We are hoping to regain the championship title," U-19 team selector Hanna Sarkar told the media at a press conference today.

"We were the champions in 2020. Unfortunately, we couldn't get our desired result in 2022. This time we are going there with hopes of regaining it," he added.

Bangladesh are slotted in Group A in the tournament alongside India, Ireland and the USA. The top two teams of the group will move on to the quarterfinals of this 16-team event.

The Young Tigers will start their campaign against India in Bloemfontein on January 20.

Bangladesh U-19 Team:

Ashiqur Rahman Shibli, Jishan Alam, Chowdhury Rizwan, Adil Bin Siddik, Ashrafuzzaman Boranno, Ariful Islam, Shihab James, Ahrar Amin, Sheikh Parvez Jibon, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby (Captain), Rafi Uzzaman, Rohanat Borson, Iqbal Hasan Imon, Wasi Siddiquee, Maruf Mridha.