DUBAI – The ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup begins on Friday with a Group B match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium (SCS).
Pakistan, who missed out on the final in the last edition of the event, will start Asia Cup campaign with the match against arch-rival India in Dubai on Saturday.
Pakistan is placed in Group A, alongside India, Japan and UAE. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are placed in Group B.
The Group A matches of the 50-over event will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) while the Group B matches will take place at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The top two sides from each group will play the semi-finals scheduled on 6 December, while the final will take place at the DICS on 8 December.
After playing against India, Saad Baig-led Pakistan will face UAE and Japan on 2 and 4 December, respectively.
Pakistan, before beginning their journey in the tournament, has been in Dubai for three weeks as they featured in the U19 tri-series featuring Afghanistan and UAE. Although they finished runners-up to Afghanistan in the final, the tournament provided valuable experience and warm-up to the team.
During the course of the tournament, Pakistan players tried to make full use of the conditions as opening batters Shahzaib Khan (330 runs, five matches, 1×100,3x50s) and Usman Khan (314 runs, five matches, 1×100, 3x50s) finished among the top three batters in the event. Similarly, in the bowling chart, right-arm fast bowlers Abdul Subhan and Ali Raza bagged nine wickets each as they too ended among the top three bowlers.
Pakistan squad:
Saad Baig (captain, wicket-keeper) (Karachi), Abdul Subhan (Abbottabad), Ahmed Hussain (Peshawar), Ali Raza (Sialkot), Faham-ul-Haq (Lahore), Farhan Yousuf (Lahore), Haroon Arshad (Karachi), Mohammad Ahmed (Lahore), Mohammad Huzaifa (Bahawalpur), Mohammad Riazullah (Abbottabad), Naveed Ahmed Khan (Karachi), Shahzaib Khan (Abbottabad), Tayyab Arif (Sialkot), Umar Zaib (Abbottabad) and Usman Khan (FATA)
Pakistan fixtures (all matches at DICS):
vs India – 30 November
vs UAE – 2 December
vs Japan – 4 December
