To prime the team for what lies ahead, the U19 squad was faced with a challenging tour of South Africa. PakPassion.net was fortunate enough to speak with the U19 coach, Sabih Azhar. He spoke about how the tour materialised and how the team is shaping up for the World Cup.

by Haroon Khan (13th Feb 2012)

 Pakistan has always been a top performer in youth levels and in an U19 World Cup year, the preparations are in full swing for the Pakistani juniors to bring the trophy home once again. The tournament which is held every alternate year, will this time be held in the Australian state of Queensland, with Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Townsville hosting teams.

To prime the team for what lies ahead, the U19 squad was faced with a challenging tour of South Africa. PakPassion.net was fortunate enough to speak with the U19 coach, Sabih Azhar. He spoke about how the tour materialised and how the team is shaping up for the World Cup.

“The team performance was very good. It was a challenging tour but the players performed well,” Sabih explained. Playing in alien conditions can be a hard task for even seasoned campaigners, hence Sabih was certainly pleased with the teams efforts in familiarising themselves quickly with the conditions. “For a lot of them it was their first international exposure. Conditions were new for the boys, but they gave some very good performance.” 

Sabih was particular pleased with the team’s results in trying conditions against quality opposition. “In the one dayers, we won 4 and lost 3 games. In the one day series against South Africa, we won 2-1, and then in the triangular series, we lost in the finals against South Africa,” Sabih added.

With a keen eye at developing a team for the World Cup, Sabih stated, “overall it was a successful tour and it was an important tour in particular as preparation for the upcoming Under 19 World Cup in Australia. It was a good learning curve, as the conditions we faced here will be somewhat similar to what we can expect to see in Australia. So it was good that the boys got some experience on these types of conditions. The boys have learnt well from this tour and going forward Inshallah it will prove helpful for the Under 19 World Cup.”

With the tour of South Africa done and dusted, there have been a few players whom have caught the eye. “Many players have shown good performance. In batting, Sami Aslam has performed very well," Sabih said. Sami Aslam scored an impressive 386 over 9 innings, with a highest score of 112 against the South Africans at the Stellenbosch University Ground. The skipper's batting efforts also received praise from the coach, "Babar Azam is another one who has done well with the bat," Sabih remarked. "With our bowling, Mohammad Nawaz who is a left arm spinner, he has bowled really well. Usman Qadir, Ehsan Adil and Zia-ul Haq have also bowled very well on tour.”

When quizzed on how the team will keep themselves match fit and raring before the tournament kicks off later this year in August, Sabih was happy with the effort that the PCB has gone to, to ensure the team has the best possible team on the park. “Before the World Cup we will be involved with an Asian Cup in Malaysia. That should prove quite helpful in preparing the team. They are also setting up another camp, and trying to organise other tours. We may have Afghanistan and Bangladesh touring here in Pakistan too. These types of tours are always helpful. There are also plans in place for the team to travel early to Australia so that they can acclimatize themselves with the conditions. We are also hoping to go early to Australia and possibly play a one day series against Australia before the one day series. Inshallah we are hoping to develop a good and strong fighting team,” Sabih said.

The World Cup tournament will contain the 10 ICC Full Member Nations and 6 teams whom have had to come through a qualification phase. The 16 teams are then split into 4 groups of 4, where the top eight will face off in a sudden death knockout. This tournament has in the past been the introduction showcase of top international talent such as Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yuvraj Singh, Brian Lara, Ian Bell, Virat Kohli, Eoin Morgan, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla.

Obviously the current touring players would be keen to be part of the Pakistan squad for the 15-day event, but Sabih said there may still be changes to the squad. “It’s hard to say if this team will change much between now and the World Cup. There is a process for these sorts of tournaments. The camp will provide a good opportunity for others to break into the team, so I cannot say we will have the same team in Australia. It is up to the selectors as to who is selected for the U19 World Cup. We just want to work hard and put forward the best team possible.”

Sabih Azhar has now been a part of the U19 coaching setup for a few years, and has enjoyed the experience. “It has been a great experience for me being a coach of this side. They are a great bunch of guys,” Sabih said.

The tour of South Africa has provided some tough challenges, but Sabih was pleased at how well they had gelled as a complete team unit. “A tour such as this is quite taxing on the players with all the travel and all, but I have been very impressed with their work ethics. They are wanting to learn and develop their game. They are all hard working, talented and very disciplined boys. In fact the entire staff worked very well together to achieve results – right through to the doctor, physio and trainers. It was a complete team effort that we performed well. It is hoped that as a team and as a unit, we will continue to work well towards our goal, which is performing well for Pakistan at the Under 19 World Cup.”