Five to six U-19 players will make it to Pak cricket team in few years: Coach Azhar

Islamabad, June 14 (ANI): The head coach of Pakistan Under-19 team has expressed hope that five to six players from the team will qualify for the national side in a few years' time.

The 16-member squad for the U-19 Asia Cup trophy, due to be held in Malaysia in a few weeks time, will be led by 17-year-old Babar Azam.

"Pakistan has always performed well at the U-19 level, especially in the World Cup competitions. It has been a very successful and a frequent source of supply of exciting talent for our national team. Even in this team, we have five to six players who can play for the national side in a couple of years," Pak Passion quoted coach Sabih Azhar, as saying.

"The boys have been working very hard on the bowling and batting. We have some mature boys who have been selected for the Asia Cup. The way the guys have been playing, I am confident that we will perform well," Azhar said.

"The Asia Cup is expected to be a tough tournament. The four major nations - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have historically had very good U-19 team performances. As a team we are vary of the challenge," he added.

The U-19 squad is presently in the midst of strenuous preparations at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore. (ANI)