Saad Baig will lead the junior national team as the Pakistan Cricket Board announced the U19 Asia Cup 2024 Squad. The two events will be played in November and December.
Pakistan U19 are also scheduled to play a tri-series against hosts UAE and Afghanistan teams. The event will take place from November 13 to 26 with teams playing a double round-robin format with the top two playing the final.
Following the tri-series will be the U19 Asia Cup, where eight participating teams are divided into groups of four. Pakistan, as always, are placed with India in group A alongside host UAE and Japan. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are all placed in group B. The tournament will be played from November 29 to December 8 across Dubai and Sharjah.
UAE Tri-series and U19 Asia Cup 2024 Squad: Review
SQUAD:
- Saad Baig
- Abdul Subhan
- Ali Raza
- Fahim-ul-Haq
- Farhan Yousuf
- Haroon Arshad
- Hassan Khan
- Mohammad Ahmad
- Mohammad Huzefa
- Mohammad Riaz Allah
- Naveed Ahmad Khan
- Shah Zeb Khan
- Tayyab Arif
- Umar Zeb
- Usman Khan
In addition, PCB announced Non-travelling reserves:
- Ahmed Hussain
- Mohammad Huzaifa
- Rizwan Ullah
- Yahya bin Abdul Rehman
The highlight of the squad is that former Test captain Misbah ul-Haq’s son, Faham ul-Haq, will represent the national side at the multinational event for the first time. Last year, Misbah credited Lahore Qalandars for Faham’s improvements.
“The QHPC (Qalandars High Performance Centre) provide an excellent environment to the players. There is every facility available to the players which can enhance their skills. My son has been training here for the last six to eight months and I have seen massive improvement in him. I am fully satisfied with the way they train kids in a fully equipped environment.”
Faham will follow in his father’s footsteps in the batting line-up like Misbah, Pakistan’s most successful Test captain. However, there was some criticism regarding the selection of Faham. Former Test player Faisal Iqbal was no exception in this case of nepotism.
Apart from that highlight, the squad includes many players who represented the national team in the 2024 ICC U-19 World Cup, which was played in South Africa. This includes the skipper Saad Baig, Ali Raza, Haroon Arshad, Mohammad Riaz Allah, Naveed Ahmad Khan, and Shah Zeb Khan.
Also Read: Captain Rizwan: The right player to lead Pakistan
UAE Tri-series and U19 Asia Cup 2024 Squad: Tournament Schedule
UAE Tri-Series Schedule:
- 13 November – Pakistan vs UAE
- 15 November – Pakistan vs Afghanistan
- 20 November – Pakistan vs Afghanistan
- 22 November – Pakistan vs UAE
- 26 November – Final
Asia Cup Schedule:
- 30 November – Pakistan vs India
- 2 December – Pakistan vs UAE
- 4 December -Pakistan vs Japan
- 6 December – Semi-final 1 (A1 vs B2) & Semi-final 2 (B1 vs A2)
- 8 December – Final
Pakistan has won a U19 Asia Cup title only once. It was a tied final where both India and Pakistan shared the trophy. Babar Azam was the captain at that time.
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