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BAHRAIN'S youngsters are geared up for a competitive tournament in the Asian Cricket Council's Under-19 Elite Cup in Thailand, which starts on February 1. This was conveyed by national coach Mohsin Kamal on the eve of the team's departure to Colombo, writes Gopal Nambiar.
The squad will be in Sri Lanka for four days during which they will have batting, bowling and fielding sessions and also a couple of practice matches on turf wickets.
Kamal, a former Pakistan national cricketer, said: "I am confident the boys will put up an exemplary performance as 11 team members were in the squad for the earlier Challenge Cup, where Bahrain and Thailand were promoted to the Elite Cup after qualifying for the final.
"We played four practice matches against first division Bahrain teams and the boys gave a good account of themselves. So this has put us in a good frame of mind as we embark for Thailand," added Kamal.
Bahrain Cricket Association (BCA) development officer Prachur Shukla said: "We had a 45-day intensive coaching camp for 40 players from various schools and other teams. Fourteen players and four reserves were then selected by a panel consisting of national coach Mohsin Kamal, under-19 coach F B A Rexy, coach Ajith Kumarasinghe, BCA youth cricket head Mukundan Warrier, BCA tournament secretary Vijay Sailor and myself.
Ten teams are competing for the top two spots in a global qualifier to be played later this year in order to play at the 16-team International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 World Cup next year.
Bahrain are in Group A along with Hong Kong, Qatar, Malaysia and Singapore, while Group B comprises Afghanistan, Nepal, UAE, Oman and Thailand.
The team, sponsored by Bapco, is captained by Obaid Murtaza and will be accompanied by coach Kamal, manager Yousif Yateem and a physio.
The 18-member team consists of five Bahraini nationals and 13 expatriates, each fulfilling the ICC selection criteria.
Squad: Obaid Murtaza (captain), Noman Yousef (vice-captain), Pratham Kayshap, Yasir Iftikhar, Sameer Yousif, Sameer Zulfiqar, Sameer Abbas, Maaz Zafar, Hardeep Singh, Cyrus D'Souza, Mohd Rayed, Sharif Monem, Mohammed Azeem and Ajnas Shariffudeen.
Reserves: Aqeel Aslam Malik, Abhishek Shetty, Mubbashir Baig, Ali Nadeem Ikram.
