Bangladesh Under-19 World Cup winning coach Naved Newaz is extremely happy to see some of his charges make their ways in the senior level, five to be precise in the Asia Cup squad.
Bangladeshi selectors initially included four Under-19 World Cup winning squad members, who clinched the trophy in South Africa back in 2020, in their 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup - Tawhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Shoriful Islam and uncapped Tanzid Hasan Tamim.
Later the number rose to five as pace bowling all-rounder Tanzim Hasan Sakib was picked as a replacement for pacer Ebadot Hossain after the latter was ruled of the tournament due to a knee injury.
Shoriful has already made a name for himself during the last couple of months while Hridoy has quickly established himself at the number four position in both white-ball formats through outstanding performances. Shamim, who was one of the early picks for the T20I side from that World Cup-winning batch, has recently made a return to the national fold after a gap of few years.
Uncapped Tanzid recently rose to prominence and was picked as replacement for Tamim Iqbal who missed the tournament due to back injury. Many feel Tanzim is showing promise to be a pace bowling all-rounder and if that turns into reality, it will be a boon as the team management is desperately looking for someone who can bowl fast and also bat well down the order.
Newaz, who is the assistant coach of Sri Lanka, will be at the opposite tent when Bangladesh takes on the host in their opening game of the tournament at the Pallekele Stadium on August 31.
"I wish them all the best and hope that will not do too well against Sri Lanka when we play them on the 31st," Newaz told Cricbuzz adding that clinching the trophy was a huge achievement but they still have long way to go.
"It is a massive achievement to clinch the Under-19 World Cup because it's a start of a challenge laid ahead of them and it will all depend how they will cope to the challenges that international cricket throw at them and how they will sustain them and how they will keep getting better," said Newaz.
"I am happy that I was part of it and as a coach and as a mentor happy to see progress of people you know it gives satisfaction for me and hopefully they will do well in international cricket and cope with the pressure of international cricket and keep learning about how they should go ahead and work ethics about how positively they meet the team requirements," he added.
