India had to bite the dust when Bangladesh inked history by winning the Under-19 World Cup for the first time, under the able captainship of Akbar Ali, with a stunning three-wicket win in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on February 9.

Chasing 178, the Bangladesh team, after a good opening stand between Parvez Hossain (47) and Tanzid Hassan (17), lost quick wickets to Indian spin wizard Ravi Bishnoi, who took four Bangladesh wickets for just thirty runs in his fantastic leg spin spell of 10 overs.

Bangladesh were struggling at 102 for six but their cool captain Akbar took control of the unstable ship and showed great focus and determination, scoring 43 vital runs to take Bangladesh across the line at Senwes Park.

At the closing ceremony, Akbar said, “It’s a dream come true. We had a very good experience and this is just the beginning for us. Hopefully, this will be the starting stone for us.”

Pakistan under-19s performed well in the World Cup but their 10-wicket defeat against India in the semi-final once again exposed the gaps in our cricket structure. Such gaps have been successfully filled by cricket minnows like Bangladesh.

If we look closely at the progression of Bangladesh, we find that theirs was one of the most closely-knit unit in the championship. It was also focused and disciplined.

Masterminded and trained under the stewardship of Khalid Mehmood, the Bangladesh game director and chairman game development, the team underwent a well thought training plan of two years.

Khalid, while unveiling his grand plan to Cricinfo, said: “We played a lot of cricket.

The Board backed our plan. Our tours to England and New Zealand were our starting point. We played thirty plus games and won 18 of them.”

While explaining the process that resulted into World Cup 2020 victory, Mehmood said: “We had faith in the boys and we persisted with the squad for two years. From an under 17 team in 2018, we selected a set of 20 players and then we picked the final 15. Being together, they have matured and learnt their roles in depth. The strong under 17 squad was the result of a paradigm shift in how the BCB has approached the sport in the past few years, going beyond the traditional cricketing centers in the country.”

Khalid, also known as Sujon in Bangladesh, further said: “Four years ago BCB planned to give the sport an equal footing in all 64 districts. The board organised tournaments at three levels: under-14, under-16 and under-18 to identify 45 players from each age group. These 135 players were then split into three teams to take part in annual triangular tournaments. Sixty to seventy coaches were employed to impart training to under-19 players and four selectors watched the progress of these players.”

Bangladesh has been known as a team that crumbles when the occasion is big. In 2018, the senior team lost three finals, two of them on last ball to India. In 2016 World T20, Bangladesh suffered a one-run loss against India.

“Our main issue was that of mental strength, which we overcame through two years of intense practice,” said Khaled.

Richard Stoinier, conditioning coach of Bangladesh, made significant contributions to the training of the World Champions.

“The boys underwent a lifestyle change. We developed agility drills that athletes do in soccer and American football. They have become leaner and faster, getting closer to the global standard athletes. They focus as much as on recovery as they do on practice. It’s a total shift,” said Stoinier.

This team is a product of system and not a chance. These young players are the rising stars of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh board indeed followed a transparent selection and training system across the board. The result of such transparency, merit and commitment is there for our administrators to see and imitate.

We hope that Pakistan Cricket Board will also chalk out a comprehensive plan to find talent from across the country and put the team through a rigorous mental and physical training so that our performance against strong sides can become more consistent.

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