Despite playing more than 30 matches in the lead-up to the ICC Under-19 World Cup, Bangladesh failed to reach the semifinals. Ahead of their final Super Sixes match against hosts Zimbabwe tomorrow, Bangladesh Under-19 head coach Naveed Nawaz spoke to The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan about the team’s campaign, lessons learned, and other issues. Excerpts follow:
The Daily Star (DS): What are your thoughts on the World Cup journey?
Naveed Nawaz (NN): Both of our practice matches were affected by rain, which made things very difficult. With DLS coming into play against India, we needed to score over seven runs an over. The wicket got wet, balls stayed low, and unfortunately, we couldn’t keep up. The New Zealand game was washed out, and we batted poorly in our last game against England.
DS: Did losing to India after dominating most of that game affect the team mentally?
NN: More than being mentally down, I think the boys didn’t play enough cricket from the Asia Cup onwards, as many matches were rain-affected. That disrupted momentum and confidence.
DS: Why does Bangladesh often struggle in pressure situations?
NN: We try to address that by playing a lot of cricket at the Under-19 level. But if you look at India, their players play a massive volume of cricket. I read about a school cricketer in India who scored 29,000 runs and 29 centuries. Mental strength and the ability to handle pressure only improve by playing more and more cricket.
DS: What is your take on the heavy travel schedule during tournaments?
NN: We travelled more than 2,000 kilometres. After arriving in Harare, we travelled 600 kilometres to play two practice matches. For our first game against India, we had to travel another 450 kilometres [BCB arranged a flight at their own cost later]. When we saw the schedule, we wrote to the ICC to object, but there was no change. Travel fatigue is definitely an issue in a tournament like this.
DS: Do we need to change approach in this fast-evolving game?
NN: We have players like Zawad Abrar, who is an aggressive player. The future of cricket is based on aggression. It’s not fair to say we don’t have that capability, but we struggled with patience and execution in the middle.
DS: How do you see your future as your contract ends after this World Cup?
NN: I haven’t had any discussions with the BCB yet. Bangladesh produces a lot of talent every year, which is surprising given that the junior system isn’t as strong as India or Sri Lanka. The BCB’s development department has done significant work at district and divisional levels, and working with such players remains my priority.
