Newly appointed Bangladesh U-19 cricket team head coach Naveed Newaz aims to boost the young side with the knowledge of South African conditions as the U-19 World Cup will take place there in 2020.
The former Sri Lanka cricketer Newaz officially took charge of his post at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka yesterday and got down to business with 27 U-19 cricketers on the first day.
Newaz, who replaced Damien Wright as the Bangladesh U-19 coach, carries a good amount of experience coaching the Sri Lanka U-19 team and wants to bring that into the Bangladesh job.
“I have been coach for three World Cups with Sri Lanka, from 2010 till 2014. So I have an idea of what’s happening there. I can prepare the boys for the journey,” said Newaz during his first interaction with the media in the capital yesterday.
“Technically every team which play in the World Cup want to win it and that’s how we are looking into the strength of our team. I think it’s possible to do that. The skill is there in the boys and the greatest challenge now is how we prepare them for playing in overseas conditions.
“Last time they played in New Zealand, it is very different to what we have here. And this time we are playing in South Africa. The conditions there are also quite different. So it’s a matter of how we are going to prepare them for those conditions. One thing is to prepare them for those conditions and another is going to be how we use the facilities that we have here. We will try to alter and modify things so that we can replicate the training conditions to those in South Africa,” the former Sri Lanka batsman explained.
Given the pace-friendly conditions in South Africa, Newaz looks and expects to create an efficient pool of pace bowlers for the flagship event.
“There are seven to eight fast bowlers in the squad so far. I believe there is a bit more provision which the selectors will have from where they can pick more. It’s a very important part as we are playing in South Africa and fast bowling is going to be a key aspect of our game plan. So in the back of our minds I have that and am looking to work with it,” Newaz said.
Former Sri Lanka U-19 coach Newaz emphasised the importance of a long-term coach for a team at this level and also the need for a set-up to monitor every aspect. The current Sri Lanka team feature Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Dhananjaya De Silva. They all graduated from the U-19 side with Newaz as coach.
“It’s a long-term job. It might not be a good thing to keep changing but have a long-term journey with the players, especially with the U-19 team. We expect them to go forward and play for the national team. So that foundation that you are going to put there is going to be important. You need people to look after different areas like bowling, batting and fielding so that we can get their feedback through a proper reporting system, get to know the progress of the players and influence them from my knowledge, and work with them. To answer your question, the players may be technically not at their best because they are just coming into U-19 cricket and just getting exposed into international cricket. So there might be technical modifications needed, and a couple of fitness modifications too. To do all that I think you need a good base of staff to handle the players,” Newaz said.
