Young Tigers' title defence mission begins today

Young Tigers are ready to take on England at Warner Park today as they begin their mission to defend the title of ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Bangladesh, the defending champions will play their first match on the group stage on Sunday at Basseterre, St Kitts; the match will begin at 7 PM in Bangladesh Standard Time. Gazi TV will telecast the match live.

Rakibul Hasan, part of the victorious team in 2020, is leading the side, and the left-arm spinner is confident that his team will make a headstart.

“The conditions in St Kitts are not that tough. We have been here for two weeks now, so we have adjusted to the conditions and also playing two practice games is good preparation for us, so we are looking forward to playing England, and hopefully, we can get off to a good start,” he told the media.

Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe in the practice match ahead of the main draw. They also played in the U-19 Asia Cup before coming to the Caribbeans, where they were knocked out by India in the semi-finals. Rakibul is keeping his feet on the ground despite being the current champions.

“We are focused on our game. Yes, we are defending champions, but we are looking forward to our game, so we are focused on that, and how well we prepare ourselves for the upcoming game and how we can get to the next stage of the competition,” Rakibul said in the press conference before the match.

England captain Tom Prest is also keeping an eye on the prize and he is also confident about making a winning start.

“Obviously, we’ve come over here with the intention of winning the tournament. That’s kind of our ultimate goal as a side. We’ve had a good run out against West Indies and Sri Lanka in the summer series in England, and then we went out to Sri Lanka before Christmas in December,” he said in the press conference.

“It would be amazing to win. To even be at a global tournament, at a World Cup, is a great feeling for all of us. I think to win the tournament as well would be an unbelievable feeling for all of us,” he added.