Pakistan look ahead to U19 tri-series challenge

Islamabad: Pakistan are all set to take on Afghanistan and hosts UAE in the U19 tri-series commencing November 13 at the ICC Academy in Dubai.

The 50-over tournament will be played on a double-league basis and the final will be staged on November 26, said a press release.

Saad Baig-led side, since their arrival in Dubai on Saturday afternoon, have gone through three practice sessions in order to acclimatise with the local conditions.

At the conclusion of the tri-series, Pakistan will feature in an eight-team ACC U19 Asia Cup, which will take place from November 29 to December 8 in Dubai and Sharjah.

Among the 15-member squad, three players – Saad Baig, Shahzaib Khan and Tayyab Arif had the experience of playing at the ICC Academy, as they were part of the squad which featured in ACC U19 Asia Cup held last year at the same venue.

Saad Baig talking to PCB Digital on the eve of the tournament, said, “The preparation for the tournament has been good,

the players have had good training sessions here and have played matches before departing and now we are looking forward to tomorrow’s game and the rest of the tournament.

“Both Afghanistan and UAE are strong sides and playing against them will provide us a great opportunity to get our combination right before going into the all-important ACC U19 Asia Cup taking place later this month.”

Pakistan U19 squad for tri-series: Saad Baig (captain, wicket-keeper) (Karachi), Abdul Subhan (Abbottabad), Ali Raza (Sialkot), Faham-ul-Haq (Lahore), Farhan Yousuf (Lahore), Haroon Arshad (Karachi), Hassan Khan (Rawalpindi), 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).

Non-travelling reserves: Ahmed Hussain (Peshawar), Rizwanullah (Karachi) and Yahya bin Abdul Rehman (Lahore).