Rabby and Co keep promises, overcoming regret

Just before the Youth Asia Cup - 2023, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) named Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby as the captain in place of Ahrar Amin. After taking the responsibility of leadership in the shoulder, Rabby said that his team will step into Dubai to clinch the Asia Cup title. Most people, at that time, might have thought of this speech of the Bangladesh leader as 'incidental remark'. Because, though it is 'Asia Cup' on pen and paper, it is actually 'Mini World Cup'. Along with superpowers like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, emerging force Afghanistan also take part in this 8-team tournament. Out of the 10 teams who played in the Senior ODI World Cup in India this year, five teams participate in the Asia Cup. Therefore, it is not an easy task to become a 'champion' in this highly competitive event. However, by winning all the matches in the tournament, Rabi and Co proved that they really went to Dubai to be the 'Champions'.

This is Bangladesh's first-ever U19 Asia Cup title. On Sunday's (December 17) final, the Junior Tigers thrashed the hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE). Holding the trophy, Captain Rabbi said, "We came here to be champions, we have kept our promise." The UAE could not put up any resistance ‍against the Bangladesh boys in the final. The final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium was very one-sided, with the Junior Tigers winning by 195 runs. This is the biggest victory of the tournament in terms of runs. Not just in the final, the youth Tigers showed complete dominance in the entire tournament. Those who faced Bangladesh had to suffer miserable defeat. Bangladesh started the Asia Cup campaign with a 61-run victory against the United Arab Emirates in their first match in Group B. Then they thrashed Japan by 9 wickets. In the last match of the group, Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets to enter the last four as group champions.

Team India, the hot favorite of the tournament, was Bangladesh's opponent in the semi-final. However, even the eight-time champions could not stand in front of Bangladesh. Batting first, India lost their top six batters for 61 runs, thanks to the fiery bowling by Maruf Mridha. India, later, got a respectable total of 188 runs as Mushir Khan (50) and Murugan Abhishek (62) scored fifties. However, India could not stop indomitable Bangladesh with this score. Ariful Islam's 94 and former captain Ahram Amin's 44 helped Bangladesh win the match and reach the final. Another superpower Pakistan could be Bangladesh's opponent in the final. However, in the semi-final stage, the 'unpredictable' Pakistan lost to the UAE dramatically by 11 runs.

The final was very one-sided too, due to the great performance of Bangladeshi youth. In response to Bangladesh's 282 runs, Emirates were bowled out for just 87 runs. The entire Emirates team could not score as many runs as Tiger opener Ashiqur Rahman Shibli (129) did. Shibli was the best batsman of the whole tournament, and also the Player of the Final. The right-hander was also adjudged the Player of the Tournament with 378 runs in 5 matches. A maximum of 34 fours also came from his bat. Current national team batter Soumya Sarkar and Shibli are similar in a point. Soumya Sarkar was the highest run scorer in the 2012 U-19 Asia Cup. The southpaw scored 251 in only 2 matches. Soumya played an epic innings of 209 runs against Qatar in that edition. Shibli, the highest run-scorer in the 2023 U-19 Asia Cup, also has the same average as Soumya (126). After Soumya, this junior Tiger has entered the list of the highest run-scorer in an Asia Cup as the second Bangladeshi. Even after winning the trophy, Shibli is keeping his feet on the ground. His vision with the team is much further, "The World Cup is ahead, it will not stop here. We will try our best."

Such a brilliant performance in this year's Asia Cup will help Bangladeshi fans forget the regretful memory of September 14, 2019. That day, the Bangladesh U-19 team was on the verge of winning the Asia Cup title for the first time at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. However, Bangladesh did not touch the trophy that day, despite India being bowled out for only 106 runs. Chasing the modest target, Bangladesh managed to score just 101 runs. The team, consisting of stars like Akbar Ali-Tawhid Hriday-Shamim Hossain, was deprived of the title with 5 run-defeat. Rabbi and Co have overcome the regret of losing the Asia Cup 4 years ago. The Tigers also have the honor of winning the World Cup at the U-19 level. Although the men's cricket team does not have any international titles, the under-19 and women's cricket teams are giving us away with open arms.

However, there is no way to relax after winning the Asia Cup. The Youth World Cup is going to kick off next month. The event will be held in South Africa where Bangladesh won the U19 World Cup three years ago. After achieving continental excellence, the cricket lovers of Bangladesh can dream of becoming the world champions again in that 'lucky country'.