Opener Farhan Zakhail-led Afghanistan U-19 cricket team left for the upcoming 2020 under-19 cricket World Cup to be held in South Africa post a press conference held in Kabul today.
ACB’s CEO Mr.Lutfullah Stankizai, U19 Head coach Raees Ahmadzai and U-19 captain Farhan Zakhail attended the press conference and expressed their full readiness for the mentioned mega event.
Chief executive officer Mr.Lutfullah Stanikzai said, Afghanistan got a balanced squad for U-19 World Cup, we are going to the world cup with full preparation which is underway from the last one year & it will be the first ever direct appearance of Afghanistan U19 team in the tournament.
Mr. Stanikzai further said, Afghanistan current U-19 cricket team has some top performers of the last edition of the Shpageeza T20 domestic cricket league and they further strengthen with the experience of Ibrahim Zadran who got all-rounder ability.
He added Afghanistan was in the Semi-final of the last 2018 U-19 tournament & hopefully the current team will continue that legacy & will perform as expected.
Afghanistan U-19 head coach Raees Ahmadzai said, There will be strong teams in the tournament but he got great bunch of players in his team and with the full support of Afghanistan cricket board management he worked harder with team from the last one year which will have fruitful result in U-19 cricket world cup which is going to be held in South Africa.
Lastly, Afghanistan U-19 Captain Farhan Zakhail showed his faith in his squad’s ability to do well in the U-19 world cup while mentioning his team recent performances against South Africa U-19, U-19 Asia Cup & a bilateral series against India U19.
He also expressed that Afghanistan U-19 will be fully ready for the tournament where they will have two training camps and practice matches leading to the world cup. He added that, Afghanistan U-19 team to participate in ACB funded training camp where they will play two matches against Bangladesh & with a Local University team followed by ICC accommodated camp where they will take on India & England in official warm up matches on 12th & 14th of January.
The 13th edition of the U-19 cricket world cup will be played among 16 teams, split into four groups.
Afghanistan U-19 will start its campaign on the 1st day of the tournament 17th January against the home side South Africa U-19 in group D which will have live television coverage inside and around the globe as well, followed by the two league matches against UAE and Canada on 22nd and 24th of January respectively.
Name of Author: Afghanistan Cricket Board
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) is the governing body for cricket in Afghanistan. It joined the ICC in 2001, became an associate member in 2013, and a full member in 2017. The ACB is also part of the Asian Cricket Council.
