The ensuing 16-team ICC U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup'24, a 50-over-a-side Youth World Cup, organized by International Cricket Council (ICC), begins on Friday (January 19) in South Africa.

Hosts South Africa will play West Indies at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom while Ireland will face Unites States at Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein, both at 2: pm (Bangladesh time) in two opening day's fixture on Friday.

Bangladesh team, the champions of 2020, will start their U-19 World Cup mission taking on their giant neighbor and holders India in Bloemfontein on Saturday (January 20) at 2 pm Bangladesh time.

Left-arm spinner Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby, who led the Bangladesh team to win the first-ever U-19 Asia Cup crown very recently, will also lead the team in the ICC U -19 World Cup in South Africa.

Bangladesh, which was placed in Group A with India, United States and Ireland, will play Ireland on January 22 at Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein and United States on January 26 at the same venue
in the remaining group matches.

The U -19 Cricket World Cup was introduced in 1988 as aln biennial tournament where India won the title for a record five times, Australia clinched the title thrice, Pakistan twice while Bangladesh, England, South Africa and West Indies won the title once each.

Ahead of the U-19 World Cup engagements, Bangladesh played two official warm-up matches there.

Bangladesh conceded a huge 112-run defeat in the first match against Sri Lanka under DLS method but they smartly bounced back in the 2nd match beating mighty Australia by five wickers with 107 balls remaining.

The upcoming U-19 will be held on new format without any quarterfinal.
Initially, all the participating 16 teams spilt into four groups -- Group A,B,C,D--will face each other within the group on league basis matches.

Later, the top three teams from each group will advance to the 12-team Super Six stage.

The fourth-placed teams in Group A and D will face each other while the fourth-placed teams in Group B and C will face each other in a classification match to decide positions.

In the super-six stage, top three teams from Group A and D will be included in a six-team group while top three teams from Group B and C will be put in another group.

Each team will carry forward the number of points, wins, NRR they have earned against their fellow super-six qualifying teams.

Each team will play two matches in the super-six stage against the opponents from from other group (i.e. the AI team will play only D2 and D3 teams in the super-six stage while A2 team will play only D1 and D3 teams).

The top two teams from each of the two super-six group will qualify for the semi-finals and later two winning semifinalists will play in the final.

Left-arm spinner Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby, who led the Bangladesh team to win the first ever Under-19 Asia Cup crown very recently, will also lead the team in the ICC Under -19 World Cup in South Africa.

Bangladesh U-19 team : Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby (Captain), Ashiqur Rahaman Shibli, Jishan Alam, Chowdhury, Md Rizwan, Adil Bin Siddik, Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Boranno, Ariful Islam, Shihab James, Ahrar Amin (Vice Captain), Sheikh Parvez Jibon, Rafi Uzzaman Rafi, Rohanat Doullah Borson, Iqbal Hasan Emon, Wasi Siddiquee, Maruf Mridha