Dubai, January 14: The stage is set for the opening round of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup (U19 CWC) 2010 in New Zealand with defending champion India looking to make a convincing start in defence of its title.
India takes on qualifier Afghanistan in the first Group A game in front of the ESPN STAR Sports cameras at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Christchurch to open the prestigious tournament on Friday (15 January).
In seven U19 CWC tournaments to date, the competition has yielded four champions – Australia, India and Pakistan have each won twice, while England won the 1998 contest. Those teams could again be in the running for the 2010 crown but the form book is wide open and there are many other challengers in this year’s contest.
After beating South Africa in the 2008 final in Malaysia, and with a strong build-up to this year’s tournament, India comes in as a favoured contender to lift the title for a record third time.
Speaking ahead of the side’s opening match on Friday, vice-captain Mandeep Singh said that expectations would not be an issue for the team.
“There is no pressure,” he said. “In fact, the fact that we are defending champions makes us want to do better and makes us more confident. But I also feel that a slight pressure is necessary for us to perform well.”
Mandeep said the side’s confidence was high after a positive build-up to the series, and good opportunities to adjust to different conditions.
“Our preparation has been pretty good. We have played in Mumbai, Australia, South Africa and we’ve been here for some time now, so were used to the different conditions and the ball swinging around more. We faced some very similar conditions in the grounds that we played at inSouth Africa. We’re getting used to the weather and the wind here as well.”
Mandeep mentioned Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa as possible threats to their bid for a third title, but acknowledged that there were many teams in good form.
The current title-holder can expect to be hard pressed by several other sides – equally determined to make their mark in this tournament.
Pakistan, winner of the U19 CWC in 2004 and 2006, comes into the tournament with three months solid match practice together as a team, including a recent campaign against Zimbabwe, a tri-nation series with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and a series win overNew Zealand.
Captain Azeem Ghumman said he was satisfied his team was where it should be for its foray into the 2010 event.
“We have been working as a unit for three months now,” he said. “We’re feeling good as a team – we have good bowlers, good batsmen and I love leading this side.”
Ahead of the side’s opening game against the West Indies, in Palmerston North, Azeem was reluctant to identify which teams he rated highest. “I can’t say. It’s a big event, a huge event, all the 16 teams have prepared for this.
“The first match, against the West Indies, is the most important match for us. From my experience if you win the first match of thetournament it’s always good as a start. So our eyes will be on winning that first match.”
Azeem believes his side’s batting will be a key to progressing through the tournament. “I think our batting is a real strength. We have good batters right down to number seven, eight and nine, and we have played a number of matches where we have chased a lot of runs on hard wickets.”
England, winner in 1998, has been drawn alongside India in Group A and will face the defending champion in the final match of the group stage, on 21 January.
England captain Azeem Rafiq said his side had learned a lot from its series loss to Bangladesh last year and was well-prepared for a tough first week in the U19 CWC.
“With India in our group we are focused on them,” he said. “The subcontinent teams are always strong but we’re not fearing anyone. We know if we perform our skills and put in 100 per cent we’ve got an immense amount of talent in this squad and we know there’s enough here to win it.”
Rafiq backs his batsmen and seamers but says it’s his spin attack that will be match-winners. “I feel we are strong in every department,” he said. “But I think during the middle overs is where, with our spinners, we can kill the game off.”
Inaugural U19 CWC champion Australia brings some big names into the tournament – Mitchell Marsh and Alister McDermott, for example, hoping to emulate the success of their respective fathers, former Test players Geoff and Craig – as well as a number of players with first-class playing experience.
As captain of the side, Mitchell said there’s a high level of confidence. “I think we’ve got a fair bit of experience in our side,” he said. “We’ve got four or five guys who have played domestic cricket back home and that’s obviously a pretty good competition. We have a few young guys as well with a lot of talent so we should go pretty well.”
Among other contenders, many observers are picking Bangladesh to make an impressive showing at the tournament – a sentiment confirmed by two strong wins in warm-up matches this week, against host New Zealand and two-time winner Australia.
The side comes to New Zealand off the back of a successful campaign in 2009 which includes a 4-1 series win over Sri Lanka as well as success against Zimbabwe and England.
Captain Mahmudul Hasan said the preparation leading up to the tournament had been good for the side. “Our team is going very well, they’ve been very excellent so far so we are happy with the way we have performed,” he said.
The side has drawn a tough pool, which includes Pakistan and West Indies, but Mahmudul is not daunted. “We are still very confident. We do have some tough games but our team is going very well – we have had two good results, and the boys are going very nicely and they’re doing a good job.”
Runner-up in 2002 and in 2008, South Africa takes on 11th seed Ireland at Queenstown on day one – and the side is determined to get past second-place this time.
Talented South Africa captain Josh Richards said his side was buoyant and confident as it headed into its U19 CWC opener, but also keeping a watchful eye on other sides.
“We give every side tremendous respect,” said Richards. “We haven’t played that much against other sides. We’ve played against India and Sri Lanka in a triangular – both those sides look good. We knowAustralia’s always going to be a top side, New Zealand as well. But we’re going in with our eyes open – we’re not judging anyone, we’re just focusing on ourselves at the moment.
“As a side we just want to be the best we can be. We want to be at our best throughout the group stages and if we get to the quarters and semis and keep improving, we’ll hopefully take home the World Cup.”
Matches on the opening day of the U19 CWC include India v Afghanistan at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, Zimbabwe v Canada at QEII Park, Christchurch, Pakistan v West Indies at Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North, andSouth Africa v Ireland at Queenstown Events Centre.
Over the following two weeks days the 16 teams will battle through group rounds, quarter and semi-finals and a Plate Championship play-off series before the new U19 worldchampion is crowned after the final on 30 January.
All 10 matches to be played at Bert Sutcliffe Oval will be televised live by the ICC’s broadcast partner ESPN STAR Sports to a huge global audience in more than 100 countries.
–Agencies