The teams' positions are determined in each tournament of the ICC Youth World Cup. The tournament's 2020 champion, Bangladesh had to be content with eighth place in this year's event. The tournament would have been a success for Bangladesh if they could reach the semi-finals. However, Bangladesh did not do well as a team during the main competition. Despite this, some players did well. The overall performance of the Bangladesh team in the 2022 ICC U19 World Cup is discussed in this article.
Bangladesh U19 Team's Performance in the ICC Youth World Cup 2022
The Bangladesh U19 team placed second in Group A after winning two of their three games. They won by 9 wickets (D/L method) over UAE and by 8 wickets against Canada. Bangladesh's young team only lost one match to tournament finalist England by 7 wickets.
Bangladesh U19 side fell by 5 wickets against India's U19 team in the Super League quarter-final, ending their hopes of retaining the championship.
Bangladesh lost by 6 wickets to Pakistan and by 2 wickets to South Africa in the placement matches. Therefore, the Bangladesh U19 team finished eighth in the tournament after three consecutive defeats.
Here are some of the standout performers from Bangladesh's young team at the 2022 ICC U19 World Cup in the West Indies.
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Batting
Bangladesh's middle-order batter Ariful Islam was one of the tournament’s most consistent and standout players. He hit two consecutive hundreds against Pakistan and South Africa in the placement matches. Ariful scored 100 runs in Bangladesh's total of 175 runs against Pakistan's youth team. Ariful's 102 runs against South Africa also contributed to Bangladesh's U19 team scoring a massive 293 runs in their 50 overs. This right-handed batter has a promising career ahead of him. In addition to him, Iftakher Hossain had a decent outing in the tournament.
Top three run-scorers (Bangladesh U19)
|
Player |
Inn |
Runs |
HS |
Ave |
SR |
100s |
|
Ariful Islam |
4 |
215 |
102 |
53.75 |
81.13 |
2 |
|
Iftakher Hossain |
4 |
124 |
61* |
41.33 |
52.99 |
0 |
|
Mahfijul Islam |
6 |
116 |
64* |
23.20 |
71.60 |
0 |
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/
Bowling
Right-arm medium pacer Ripon Mondol was the most consistent bowler for the Bangladesh U19 team. He took 14 wickets at an incredible average of 15. He had the best bowling figures among Bangladesh bowlers. Bangladesh's best bowling figure in the competition was Ripon's 4/24 against India. Ripon Mondol also finished the campaign as one of the tournament's top wicket-takers. This young pacer is surely one of Bangladesh cricket's brightest prospects. Apart from Ripon Mondol, right-arm off-break bowler SM Meherob and medium-pacer Ashiqur Zaman bowled well for the Bangladesh U19 team in the event.
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Top three wicket-takers (Bangladesh U19)
|
Player |
Match |
Wickets |
BBI |
Ave |
Econ |
4w |
|
Ripon Mondol |
6 |
14 |
4/24 |
15.00 |
4.22 |
2 |
|
SM Meherob |
6 |
6 |
4/38 |
27.00 |
4.15 |
1 |
|
Ashiqur Zaman |
4 |
4 |
2/14 |
15.25 |
2.25 |
0 |
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/
Way Forward
The Bangladesh U19 team had high expectations going into the 2022 ICC U19 World Cup as defending champions. Bangladesh only made it to the quarterfinals of the Super League. They were also last among the top eight teams. However, Bangladesh can take positives from some outstanding individual performances. The youth team's top performers in the competition were Ariful Islam in batting and Ripon Mondol in bowling. They have a bright future ahead of them if the Bangladesh Cricket Board properly nurtures these players.