'Our plan was to provide opportunities'

The Bangladesh Under-19 team lost the lone T20 against their Pakistani counterparts by four wickets at the Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi yesterday.

Pakistan chased the target of 160 runs posted by Bangladesh losing six wickets and five balls to spare where opener Shamyl Hossain top scored with 67 off 49 balls striking seven fours and a six.

The triumph completed a successful tour for the visitors, who won the lone youth Test and also clinched the five-match one-day series 4-1.

Bangladesh's batting was the biggest area of concern, with the young Tigers unable to post over 200 runs in any of the five one-dayers against Pakistan.

The only time Bangladesh managed to score over 200 on the entire tour was in the second innings of the lone youth Test, although that did not avert a comprehensive 10-wicket defeat.

According to age-level selector Hannan Sarkar, the home series against Pakistan was part of an experimental process aimed to provide opportunities and test team's bench strength ahead of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka next year.

"The boys did well in Pakistan and also managed to win the tri-nation series in the UAE featuring Sri Lanka and Afghanistan recently. Our plan was to provide opportunities to other players in the squad for our next home series. Six cricketers made their debut against Pakistan in this series," Hannan told The Daily Star.

"We needed to prepare back-up players with injuries and other issues in mind ahead of the World Cup. Maybe we had a tough time against Pakistan, but we are not concerned about the results. This was part of an experimental process with our long-term goal, which is the World Cup next year, in mind."

The young Tigers will host South Africa in July for a five-match one-day series and the board is also planning to play a tri-nation series before the Asia Cup later this year.