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To Captain U19 Team Was My Dream, Says Naveen-ul-Haq

The Captain and the right-arm medium-fast bowler of the U-19 National Cricket Team Naveen-ul-Haq Murid in an interview published on ICC’s website has said that captaining Afghanistan's U19s was his dream which has came true.

The U19 team beat Pakistan in the opening match of the ICC U-19 World Cup and will face Sri Lanka on Wednesday in their second match of the tournament.

Naveen said he started cricket in 2012 after he watched Afghanistan’s National Cricket Team in T20 World Cup which was hosted by Sri Lanka.

“When I saw the national team in T20 World Cup in 2012, I decided to start playing cricket and it was my dream to play for my country,” Naveen-ul-Haq said. “In that time, we had a best bowler and his name was Hamid Hassan so he was the idol for me. He (Hassan) was the one-man army in the team."

“It is not an easy job to the burden of being a captain. It was my dream to captain my team and this dream has come true,” added.

He said the U19 cricket team can beat Australia, New Zeland and England as the team already defeated Pakistan, Indian and Bangaladesh in Asia.

Naveen-ul-Haq was born in 1999 in Kabul City. He made his One-Day International (ODI) debut for Afghanistan against Bangladesh in 25 September 2016. Prior to his ODI debut, he was part of Afghanistan's squad for the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup.

He made his T20 debut for Afghanistan against Namibia in 19 January 2017.

In December 2017, he was named as the captain of U19 team.

He is also member of Band-e-Amir Dragons team in a local league in Kabul.

On Saturday, the U19 team thrashed Pakistan in the opening match of the World Cup in Whangarei, New Zealand after displayed a tremendous performance.

In November last year, the team was also beat Pakistan and won the Under 19 Asia Cup. The team was trashed Pakistan by 185 runs in the final.

But Pakistan are no slouches either. Though they were thumped in that U-19 Asia Cup final, they still played well enough to make it there in the first place – another thrashing by Afghanistan notwithstanding – hammering UAE and inching past Bangladesh and fellow Group D opponent’s Sri Lanka.

Both teams won their warm-up games, Afghanistan in a close game against Bangladesh, and Pakistan in a hammering of Namibia, and despite the recent one-sided history, this is shaping up to be a close, high-quality game.

U19 World Cup History

Afghanistan’s stark rise, from being also-rans to one of the favourites, is illustrated by the fact that all their ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup appearances have come this decade. Their best performance until now came in 2014, when they shocked Australia in the group stages to qualify for the quarter-finals, eventually finishing seventh, according to ICC.

Pakistan are the third-most successful team in ICC’s U-19 Cricket World Cup history, having taken home the title twice, in 2004 and 2006, behind only India and Australia.

They have made the final on a further three occasions, including at the first-ever tournament in 1988, with a team including future legends Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed.

To Captain U19 Team Was My Dream, Says Naveen-ul-Haq

The Captain of the red-hot U19 National Cricket Team Naveen-ul-Haq Murid said to captain his country’s team was a dream that comes true.

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The Captain and the right-arm medium-fast bowler of the U-19 National Cricket Team Naveen-ul-Haq Murid in an interview published on ICC’s website has said that captaining Afghanistan's U19s was his dream which has came true.

The U19 team beat Pakistan in the opening match of the ICC U-19 World Cup and will face Sri Lanka on Wednesday in their second match of the tournament.

Naveen said he started cricket in 2012 after he watched Afghanistan’s National Cricket Team in T20 World Cup which was hosted by Sri Lanka.

“When I saw the national team in T20 World Cup in 2012, I decided to start playing cricket and it was my dream to play for my country,” Naveen-ul-Haq said. “In that time, we had a best bowler and his name was Hamid Hassan so he was the idol for me. He (Hassan) was the one-man army in the team."

“It is not an easy job to the burden of being a captain. It was my dream to captain my team and this dream has come true,” added.

He said the U19 cricket team can beat Australia, New Zeland and England as the team already defeated Pakistan, Indian and Bangaladesh in Asia.

Naveen-ul-Haq was born in 1999 in Kabul City. He made his One-Day International (ODI) debut for Afghanistan against Bangladesh in 25 September 2016. Prior to his ODI debut, he was part of Afghanistan's squad for the 2016 U-19 Cricket World Cup.

He made his T20 debut for Afghanistan against Namibia in 19 January 2017.

In December 2017, he was named as the captain of U19 team.

He is also member of Band-e-Amir Dragons team in a local league in Kabul.

On Saturday, the U19 team thrashed Pakistan in the opening match of the World Cup in Whangarei, New Zealand after displayed a tremendous performance.

In November last year, the team was also beat Pakistan and won the Under 19 Asia Cup. The team was trashed Pakistan by 185 runs in the final.

But Pakistan are no slouches either. Though they were thumped in that U-19 Asia Cup final, they still played well enough to make it there in the first place – another thrashing by Afghanistan notwithstanding – hammering UAE and inching past Bangladesh and fellow Group D opponent’s Sri Lanka.

Both teams won their warm-up games, Afghanistan in a close game against Bangladesh, and Pakistan in a hammering of Namibia, and despite the recent one-sided history, this is shaping up to be a close, high-quality game.

U19 World Cup History

Afghanistan’s stark rise, from being also-rans to one of the favourites, is illustrated by the fact that all their ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup appearances have come this decade. Their best performance until now came in 2014, when they shocked Australia in the group stages to qualify for the quarter-finals, eventually finishing seventh, according to ICC.

Pakistan are the third-most successful team in ICC’s U-19 Cricket World Cup history, having taken home the title twice, in 2004 and 2006, behind only India and Australia.

They have made the final on a further three occasions, including at the first-ever tournament in 1988, with a team including future legends Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed.

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