The fault in Bangladesh's U-19 stars

Since their debut in Youth ODIs in 1998, Bangladesh Under-19 cricket team have the third-best win-loss ratio and only India have won more 50-over matches than the young Tigers during that period. Despite being one of the most successful sides in U-19 cricket, Bangladesh remain the only team among the top nine not to win a single major ICC event. 

ODI is considered their strongest format but even here the win-loss ratio of the senior team is worse than all other Test-playing teams apart from Zimbabwe. While anything less than a semi-final spot in the U-19 World Cup is deemed to be disappointing for Bangladesh, the success has never been translated into senior cricket.

The young Tigers won the Asia Cup recently and have already left for South Africa ahead of the 2024 U-19 World Cup where they will attempt to repeat the 2020 heroics. On the other hand, the senior team finished 8th in both the 2019 and 2023 ODI World Cups despite having one of the most experienced sides on paper. 

There have been numerous experiences of Bangladesh players having massive success at U-19 level and then failing to emulate that in international cricket. 

Bangladesh's Anamul Haque was the highest run-getter of the 2012 U-19 World Cup ahead of the likes of Babar Azam, Quinton de Kock and Travis Head. Shadman Islam was the most prolific batter in the next World Cup, bettering players like Aiden Markram, Imam-ul-Haq, Shreyas Iyer and Kusal Mendis. 

But both the Bangladesh top-order batters have had very underwhelming international careers. It is clear from all aspects that Bangladesh don't lack talent and ability at least up to the U-19 level. But the problem is that many players sink into oblivion or come to international cricket unprepared or underprepared after representing the team at U-19 level purely because of lack of quality competitive cricket.

India has a massive player pool and we often associate that with the Indian Premier League (IPL). But in reality, it's first-class cricket, according to experts, that makes players. 

"You can play T20 cricket and earn money but longer version cricket makes players," said Sourav Ganguly last year. "Four and five-day matches help build quality cricketers. If you play too much T20 cricket, you'll remain a mediocre player."

But Bangladesh are fast-tracking the U-19 performers into international cricket without enough competitive cricket during the window period. They have handed debuts to as many as nine players from the 2020 U-19 World Cup-winning squad but apart from Shoriful Islam, none of them have cemented their place. 

On the contrary, India and Australia have played three and two players from that tournament's squads respectively while England are yet to introduce one. Unlike Bangladesh, the more successful international teams let the players mature and get ready for the bigger stage by playing more and more domestic cricket.

"After the U-19 level, Indian cricketers play U-20 cricket for a couple of years. They play hundreds of longer-version matches and one-dayers during this period. But here, players make the national team straight after playing U-19 cricket. In India or Australia, the quality of domestic cricket is close to that of international cricket. But that's not the case in Bangladesh. So players take years to settle down in international cricket," prominent local coach Sarwar Imran told The Business Standard (TBS) last year. 

Australia, undoubtedly, are the most successful international side having won six ODI World Cups and a T20 World Cup and a World Test Championship each. But they have won the U-19 World Cup only thrice and have been trophyless at this level for more than a decade. What it means is that the main target of U-19 cricket is developing players and not to win trophies. 

Former Bangladesh captain and now the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) Game Development chairman Khaled Mahmud agrees to that but said it's important to have the "winning mentality".

"The main target is, of course, developing players," he told TBS. "But when you go into a tournament, you want to win. It's part of education. If you learn the game but lose, it won't be meaningful. It's our duty to develop the winning mentality. But it's fine if we don't become champions or even can't make the second round - because it's not international cricket - but when you go into a global event, you'll always want to win."

Mahmud believes that talent is there in the country but the mental pressure that players feel in international cricket is much higher and that's one reason why U-19 performers fail to impress in senior cricket. 

"There is no dearth of talent. But at U-19 level, the amount of mental pressure is less. The stronger you are mentally, the more are the chances of being successful in senior cricket. Here if you fail initially, someone else will take your place. So, mental conditioning is important," he stated. 

Mahmud, who was instrumental in Bangladesh's 2020 U-19 World Cup triumph, said the coaches have to play a big role in preparing mentally strong cricketers. 

"Skill development is not their only job. They have to work on players' mental skills and game analysis. In order to become a complete player, it's important to have all kinds of skills."

The former Bangladesh captain emphasised on proper A team and High Performance (HP) team programs so that players can grow after the U-19 level. But according to data, Bangladesh A team has made only one unofficial Test tour (to the Caribbean) in the last four years whereas India A has toured South Africa (twice), New Zealand and Bangladesh. That's how they have created a strong bench. 

As Mahmud said, an U-19 World Cup failure won't be the end of the world for Bangladesh's young guns. What's more important for them is how they prepare themselves for the next level and the BCB has to integrate them into comprehensive programs so that the success at the U-19 level can be translated into international cricket.