The crown jewels

The fourteenth edition of the ICC U-19 World Cup began at the West Indies on Friday, where Bangladesh will be playing as the defending champions for the first time after winning the title in 2020 in South Africa.

Some of the players from that World Cup-winning team have already made it to the national team and showed huge potential, just like many other global superstars of cricket who showed their prowess in this age level tournament.

Let’s look at some of the past editions of the ICC U-19 World Cup, where cricketers like Babar Azam, Rashid Khan, Rishabh Pant, and Mustafizur Rahman announced their arrivals.

ICC U-19 World Cup 2012

Australia hosted the U-19 World Cup in 2012. Bangladesh sent a strong team with players like Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed, Nasum Ahmed, and Soumya Sarkar. Anamul Haque scored two centuries for Bangladesh and ended up with the highest runs as he amassed 365 runs in six matches. Unmukt Chand’s hundred secured India’s win over Australia in the final. Chand was the player of the final, and Australia’s Will Bosisto was the player of the tournament, but none could make it to international cricket. Anamul also faded, but one young guy from that tournament has made it to the top, Babar Azam.

ICC U-19 World Cup 2014

UAE hosted the U-19 World Cup in 2014. Mehidy Hasan led the Bangladesh side including Mustafizur Rahman, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Yasir Ali, along with Liton and Mosaddek Hossain. They were unlucky as Australia, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan had four points from three matches, and the young Tigers were knocked out due to a lesser run rate. In the 9th place play-off, Bangladesh beat New Zealand. South Africa beat Pakistan to win their first title, and Aiden Markram was the player of the tournament. The 2014 edition saw the rise of Mustafizur, who picked nine wickets.

ICC U-19 World Cup 2016

Bangladesh hosted the U-19 World Cup, and the Bangladesh Cricket Board was eyeing the top prize. Mehidy was the captain, with Najmul as his deputy. They were well supported by Saif Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin, who later made their way to the national team too. Bangladesh failed to reach the final as they lost to eventual champions West Indies in the semis. The Caribbeans defeated a strong Indian side that had Rishabh Pant, Ishaan Kishan on the team. Mehidy was the player of the tournament, but it was Rishabh and Rashid Khan who have become the hottest cricketing property.

ICC U-19 World Cup 2018

New Zealand hosted the U-19 World Cup for the third time in 2018. Bangladesh had Saif Hasan as the skipper, alongside Mohammad Naim, Afif Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, and Aminul Islam in the team. The Indian team had Prithvi Shaw, Shubhman Gill, Afghanistan had Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Pakistan brought Shaheen Shah Afridi. The youngsters who played in the 2018 edition are yet to prove their mettle as they have just started off. But within this time, Shaheen and Mujeeb have already made a name for themselves. As usual, the number of representatives to the national team is the highest from the Bangladesh team with five.

ICC U-19 World Cup 2020

South Africa hosted the ICC U-19 World Cup for the second time in 2020. Bangladesh took great preparation for the tournament. They played a triangular tournament against India and England in England, toured New Zealand, and played against Sri Lanka at home. Akbar Ali was made captain. Bangladesh lost to India in the U-19 Asia Cup final, but won the tense World Cup final, where Akbar played a remarkable inning to take Bangladesh to their first-ever global-scale title. Mahmudul Hasan, Shamim Hossain, and Shoriful Islam from that team have already made it to the senior side, and the BCB has taken special care to raise these cubs into Tigers.