With the first game of the Under-19 World Cup against Afghanistan safely negotiated without any undue alarms, Pakistan U19 Coach Sabih Azhar, in exclusive remarks to PakPassion.net, expressed his satisfaction with the performance of his team.

"The boys played well today. As you know, the first match of such an important tournament is always a bit difficult. Plus, Afghanistan is a good team and I think our boys did well to score 250-plus and then bowl them out for 140 odd. The bowlers bowled really well and before that, Umar Waheed and Mohammad Nawaz put up a crucial partnership. This is a good, morale-boosting victory for the boys. If they keep performing well like this, we will win all our matches."

Whilst a score of 253/6 was a formidable one for the Afghan team to counter, there were concerns that top order Pakistani batsmen played with undue caution. Sabih agreed that scoring rate for the initial overs was slow but attributed that to the difficulty of batting first on pitch conditions at this time of the year.

"We lost the toss and if you look at the other matches too, it looks like it is a bit difficult to bat early in the morning. The winter season has not ended yet and the cricket season in Australia hasn't started. So the matches are being played on totally fresh pitches, due to which batting early in the morning is a bit difficult and you have to be cautious. That is why our scoring rate was quite slow initially, however, we then scored around 150 runs in the last 20 overs."

Commenting on the importance of not under-estimating any opposition in this tournament and specifically with the surprise win by Bangladesh over Sri Lanka, Sabih stated "Since the past few Under-19 World Cups, we have seen that all the cricketing nations are taking these tournaments very seriously. Every team comes into the tournament with proper preparations. A lot of people were saying that Afghanistan is a weak team. However, Afghanistan has been training in Australia for a month now. In fact, they have been staying at Sunshine Coast and have also hired Geoff Lawson and an Australian fielding coach too."

Whilst the PCB initiative to allow the Pakistan Under-19s time to acclimitize themselves in Australian conditions prior to start of the tournament was lauded by all, it is a fact that most teams have made similar arrangements. This in Sabih's view will make for a much tougher competition.

"In reality, all of the teams have prepared well for this tournament. The New Zealand team has also been staying at Sunshine Coast and they have been training here for a week or so now. The England Under-19s had played a tournament with their second XI before leaving for Australia. South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also have good teams. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan have always had good teams at the Under-19 level. Therefore, I think the upcoming matches are going to be quite tough and we will get to see some really good cricket."

Pakistan’s next game is on 13th August where they take on Scotland at the Kev Hackney Oval, Buderim.