http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s journey in Under-19 cricket from 1988 to 2012 - Part 1 - Feature
Throughout the world, first-class cricket is the criteria for selection in the national team, as cricket boards allow the players to get mature before trying their hand at the highest level. However, in sub-continent and especially in Pakistan, this is not
the case as the players are usually thrown in the sea very early in their careers, being asked to learn to swim themselves.
Pakistan has produced a number of world-class players through junior cricket. The list includes http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-Butt-c2418 and many more. There are however, many talented cricketers who have been wasted by giving
them international exposure too early in their careers, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hasan-c61990 Raza, the youngest player to have ever played the game, as a prime example.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Rasheed-c61723, the manager of Pakistan Under-19s, has been working with the junior teams since the last couple of decades. The former right-handed batsman believes that it has been a great experience for him to see the development of a number of great players
since their teenage.
"It’s always very exciting to work with the U19 players and I have been doing so since 1988 - the first U19 side I worked with had players like Inzamam-ul-Haq, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Moin-Khan-c77092," the manager expressed.
Under the captaincy of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zahoor-c98509 himself went on to represent the senior team in late-1990s but could not prolong his career.
Some of the other players like Inzamam, Mushtaq, Basit Ali and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aaqib-Javed-c41431 enjoyed success at the international level in the coming years.
The current team has already qualified for the quarter-finals of the on-going http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. Pakistan is considered to be one of the hot-favourites to clinch the trophy, with an extra-ordinary bowling line-up and
a reliable batting unit.
The country’s senior team may have struggled in the previous decade but the junior squads have been doing quite well. Haroon believes that the credit must be given to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for running an under-16 program, which helped the teenagers
develop their game.
“The most satisfying aspect of this squad relates to the successful implementation by the PCB of a formal U16 program about four years ago,” the former cricketer mentioned. We focused on the grass-roots, where there was no significant organised domestic
structure in Pakistan, and considered the PCB academies as having the ideal skills and facilitates to drive the U16 project.”
The second edition of the under-19 mega event was played in 1998 in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Humayun-Farhat-c63606, all of whom went on to play international
cricket. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-c64193 Tahir, the right-arm leg-spinner, also represented Pakistan, who migrated to South Africa later in his career and is currently playing Test cricket for the Proteas.
The team topped in the group, winning three out of three matches but were later thrown out of the tournament in the knockout stage.
In 2000, the strongest team of Pakistan’s junior cricket history took part in the world event in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohsin-Hasan-Khan-c77595. The team was expected to win the tournament but were outclassed
by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in the semi-final.
To be continued...
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