Qasim Akram appointed Pakistan U19 captain for Bangladesh tour

Young all-rounder Qasim Akram has been named the Pakistan U19 captain for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh.

The Men-in-Green will play four-day games and five 50-over matches against the home team in Sylhet and Dhaka.

The Lahore-born was identified as one of the players to watch-out for by head coach Ijaz Ahmed during the last year’s ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in South Africa where he scored 93 runs at 46.50 and took three wickets at 31.

“It is a big honour for me to lead Pakistan U19, the last one year has been a good one for me and I am thankful to the team management and selectors who have reposed their confidence in me,” said Qasim as quoted in a Pakistan Cricket Board press release. “Over the course of the last 12 or so months, I have learned a great deal during the hugely competitive domestic season where I represented Central Punjab.”

“My aim would be to guide the team to the best of my ability and to pass on the experiences of my maiden domestic season during the tour as we build towards next year’s ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in the West Indies where we would aim to better our semi-final performance of last year’s edition in South Africa,” he added.

Pakistan U19 Squad:

Qasim Akram (captain), Abbas Ali, Abdul Faseeh, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Aaliyan Mehmood, Ahmed Khan, Ali Asfand, Fahad Munir, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah (wicketkeeper), Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Irfan Niazi, Mohammad Shehzad, Muneeb Wasif, Raza-ul-Mustafa (wicketkeeper), Tahir Hussain and Zeeshan Zameer.