Bangladesh's ACC U-19 Asia Cup campaign ended in disappointment after an eight-wicket semifinal loss to Pakistan on Friday, marking the first time in three years the junior Tigers failed to reach the final, having won the title in 2023 and 2024. Head coach Naveed Nawaz viewed the setback as a timely reality check ahead of the ICC U-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia, where Bangladesh face a tough Group A alongside five-time champions India, New Zealand and the USA in the competition running from January 15 to February 8. The Sri Lankan coach spoke to The Daily Star's Samsul Arefin Khan about their Asia Cup journey, World Cup preparations and more. The excerpts are as follows:
The Daily Star (DS): How do you evaluate Bangladesh's performance in the tournament?
Naveed Nawaz (NN): I take it as a good learning process for the boys heading into the World Cup after a very tough journey playing Afghanistan, the Asia Cup, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. That shapes the future. Hopefully, we have learnt enough. Overall, the boys played their hearts out. So, no regrets.
DS: Bangladesh have been winning almost everything lately, and do you think this prevents complacency before the World Cup?
NN: You can take it like that. They know the situation is tough. The World Cup in Zimbabwe [co-hosts alongside Namibia] will also be difficult because it is the monsoon season… Overall, I'm happy with how these boys have grown to become mature cricketers over the last two years. I am very confident that this group will provide some exciting cricketers for the nation.
DS: During the Asia Cup, the middle order did not provide enough runs or a strong finish compared to the top-order. Is this a concern before the World Cup?
NN: Not really. In the first match against Afghanistan, the middle order did what they needed to do to chase 280 [284]. After that, the way the tournament was designed, because there was a game every day and no water on the pitches, the wickets became slower and spin-friendly. Totals got lower as the tournament passed. Managing the old ball was difficult for all teams, not just us.
Also, Rizan [Hossan] was sick. He played the Sri Lanka game with a fever and couldn't play the semifinal. That was a huge blow to be without one of our main all-rounders. So, I guess things didn't work for us.
DS: Have you finalised your squad for the World Cup? Will most players from the Asia Cup be there?
NN: We have more time to do that. Everyone from this squad [Asia Cup] will be there unless we want to make a tactical strategy change.
DS: How do you sum up the overall preparation heading towards the World Cup? It was your last tournament before next month's show-piece event.
NN: Things have been good, though we faced some injuries. Pacer Fahad [Al] is currently out with an injury, and Emon [Iqbal Hossain] was out earlier but is now fit. We won about 70 percent of our games, so it's a bit of a mixed bag and a good learning process.
DS: We are in a tough World Cup group in Zimbabwe. Do you think the team can bring success like what you achieved in 2020?
NN: It's difficult to predict. The most important thing is that everyone remains fit, healthy, and in good shape. Skill-wise, we have done a lot… created enough in this group so that we can handle most situations.
