Sabih Azhar is hopeful to win the Under-19 Asia Cup - Cricket News Update
Pakistan Under-19 cricket team has returned home to a hero’s welcome after winning the inaugural Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-19 Asia Cup Cricket Championship in Kuala Lumpur.
Asian giants http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and Pakistan played a thrilling final which saw both teams fighting it to the last ball. The match ended in a tie after a dramatic late comeback from the Men in Green with both teams sharing the honours for being the joint Champions.
For Pakistan’s coach http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sabih-Azhar-c87765, the satisfying aspect was his team’s performance throughout the competition. The Green Shirts remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, defeating their arch rivals during the group stages, and despite managing to hold
off the Indians in dramatic fashion, the coach admitted that a win in the final would have been even more rewarding. .
“The Indian team was very strong - our main target was to compete hard and beat them, remarkably the boys handled the pressure very well and fought hard,” the coach said
The Under-19 coach said that experience of playing in an Indo-Pak final will certainly help his young team in the future.
“Huge credit to the boys and it’s really good that we got to play some high pressure matches before the Under 19 World Cup. It was great to see the players handle the pressure so well," stated Sabih.
Despite the unpredictable nature of the Green Shirts, their tournament was characterized by consistent performances – the front runner being Sami Aslam, who was the team’s highest run-getter and was consequently named as the Player of the Tournament.
The top-order looked great and responded well in every match with scores like 287, 302, 296 and 282 - the stats delighted the Rawalpindi-based coach. “I was really pleased with was the consistency in batting.”
With the Under-19 World Cup just round the corner, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 coach is hopeful that playing the Asia Cup has honed the skills of his players and made them mentally tough to handle the pressure of the biggest occasion.
“If the performance in Asia cup is any indication of things to come then we have high hopes of winning the World Cup in August,” Sabih concluded.
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