A closer look at the U-19 World Cup winners

Before the ICC U-19 World Cup began, Bangladesh Captain Akbar Ali had made the bold proclamation that his team could win the World Cup.

That proclamation turned into a reality as Akbar and his boys lifted their first-ever World Cup trophy by beating India in the final by three wickets. 

This was a total team effort as all the members chipped in when and wherever necessary.

Here, we take a look at the eleven members in the team and how they made their journey into the team. 

Akbar Ali (Captain, wicket-keeper, right-handed middle-order batsman):

A player who has shown maturity and calmness well beyond his years, Akbar Ali was the hero of the final when his team needed him the most. 

Born on 8 October 2001 In Rangpur, Akbar is the youngest among six siblings. 

In 2012, he got admitted in Dinajpur's BKSP and then in 2015, he made the jump to the primary BKSP in Savar.

From then on, there has been no looking back; and now he's the Captain of the World Champions.

Parvez Hossain Emon (Left-handed opener, back-up wicket-keeper):

The stylish strokesman was born on 6 December 2002 in Chattogram and that is also the place where his cricketing journey began. 

In class three, he was a stand-out player in tape-tennis cricket and that when his older brother's friend Sizan advised Emon's family to admit him into a cricket academy.

In 2013 Emon was admitted in Dinajpur's BKSP and from there made his way up to Savar's BKSP. 

In 2018, not getting selected in the U-19 Asia Cup came as a big blow for Emon but his BKSP coach Asadul Haque Tutul gave him an opportunity in an U-18 cricket tournament. 

There he scored 96 in an innings and that paved the way for him to play in a warm-up match in the U-19 team.

Over there he also scored a 96 to cement his spot in the U-19 team, and the rest is history. 

Tanzid Hasan Tamim (Left-handed opener):

Comparisons have been drawn with the young aggressive version of Tamim Iqbal for Tanzid already. 

On 1 December 2000 in Bogra is where Tamim was born and cricket has been in his blood since an early age. 

In fact, he loved it so much that he was thrown out from his house by his father when he was in class six as he would not study properly and just focus on cricket. 

But that did not deter him as he made his way up to play for the Bogra district team till 2016, and in 2017 joined Rajshahi's Bangla Track cricket academy. 

The head coach of this academy is none other than Khaled Mahmud and playing here gave Tamim the opportunity to play first-class cricket.

Uttara cricket club drafted him into their team and eventually into the U-19 team.

An innings of 113 against England made sure a spot in the World Cup team would be cemented. 

Mahmudul Hasan Joy (Right-handed top-order batsman):

Joy's story is like that of many of his teammates where he had to play cricket without letting his parents know. 

But as a kid, the seniors wouldn't give him an opportunity to bat up the order, resulting in him not getting an opportunity to bat most of the times.

That only made him more determined to score runs and hold on to his wicket when he got the opportunity and that determination carried on into the U-19 World Cup where he scored a ton against New Zealand in the semifinal.

On 13 November 2000 in Chadpur, Joy was born.

His father, a banker, Abul Barek saw Joy's love for cricket an eventually admitted him to Clemon cricket academy.

After two years in the academy, he got admitted to BKSP in 2014.

Joy's father had early dreams of making his son a banker too, but seeing his love and drive for cricket made him think otherwise, and Barek made sure that Joy got all the support he needed.

And from there on in, there was no stopping Joy. 

Towhid Hridoy (top-order batsman, right-handed off-spinner):

Towhid's story is a tad different from the others. 

He was such a cricket-crazy child, that he used to spend all his time, from morning to evening in the field next to his house as a seven-year-old. 

On 4 December 2000 in Bogra, Towhid was born with dreams of becoming a big cricketer, and that led him to Dhaka.

But in Dhaka, he was conned by people that claimed to be from a cricket academy and that cost him a decent sum of money. 

That, however, was not going to stop him from reaching his destination.

With support and inspiration from his mother, Towhid made his way into the U-19 team.

The player made his competitive cricket debut playing for Shinepukur cricket club also played in the 2018 U-19 World Cup.

He now holds the record for becoming only the second Bangladesh batsman to make over a thousand runs in U-19 cricket and models his batting around Mushfiqur Rahim.

Shahadat Hossain (Middle-order batsman):

Shahadat's story so far has seen more struggles than most other cricketers his age.

His father Abdus Sobur, who used to be an ambulance driver at Chattogram medical, passed away from cancer in 2010.

The sudden death of his father put his mother Ferdous Begum and older brother Abul Hossain in deep financial trouble and that meant Abul had to take up his father's job of driving. 

With Abul working day and night to provide for his family, Shahadat was busy chasing his dream of becoming a cricketer. 

Shahadat was born on 4 February 2002 in Chattogram and his cricketing journey faced further roadblocks as he did not get picked in BKSP's trial. 

When his cricketing journey seemed to be over a family friend, Shudipto Deb advised his mother and brother to take Shahadat to Ispahani cricket academy, where he'd be admitted. 

In 2013, he played second division cricket as a middle-order batsman and a year later, he got the opportunity to play for Chattogram's divisional team.

And from there, it was a changing of fortunes for Shahadat as this led to him getting selected in the U-19 World Cup squad.

And now he returns home as a world champion. 

Shamim Hossain (Right-handed all-rounder):

Seeing his cousins play cricket piqued his interest in the game when Shamim was a kid. 

As he got older, so too did Shamim's love for cricket.

He was born on 2 September 2000 in Chadpur and started playing cricket in the local TV tournaments from when he was 8-9 years old.

His father, a businessman did not stand in the way of Shamim's love for cricket but always advised him to also pay proper attention to his studies. 

Shamim's biggest influence on him becoming a cricketer has been his uncle Anowar, who helped Shamim get admitted in Clemon cricket academy.

From there, he made his way up to BKSP and in 2017 he scored a 226-run innings against a team from Kolkata in U-17 level cricket.

That innings helped him get a chance in the 2018 U-19 World Cup camp.

Although he didn't get a chance to play in the XI last time, this time he was a key member. 

Avishek Das (Right-handed all-rounder):    

Avishek as a very interesting story on his journey to the U-19 World Cup team.

He wanted to become a professional badminton player initially.

The boy born on 5 September 2001 in Narail is a three-time district champion in badminton. 

In 2012 while participating in a badminton tournament, Avishek's father's friend, Syed Monzur Towhid Tuhin noticed the six-foot-tall Avishek and advised his father - Ashit Das - to try his son in cricket. 

And that led to his father paying heed to his friend and Avishek's cricketing journey began. 

In 2018 he took three wickets in a Challenger Series match for the U-19 team and that got him a call-up into the World Cup camp.

And the rest his history.

Rakibul Hasan (Left-arm off-spinner): 

Much like Avishek, Rakibul was also a badminton player turned cricketer although he initially wanted to become a pacer. 

Born on 9 September 2002 in Mymensingh, Rakibul ended up becoming a left-arm off-spinner. 

Because he didn't have the general built and height of fast bowlers, he stuck with spin.

From a young age, Rakibul had no interest in studies, but he couldn't tell his parents his dream of becoming a cricketer. 

Instead, he took tuition fees and used that to get admitted into a local cricket academy and a few months later made his way up to Onkur cricket academy - the same academy from which Mohammad Ashraful came, and the same academy that has veteran coach Wahidul Goni. 

When his parents eventually found out, they reacted angrily and tried to force him to study.

But that didn't stop Rakibul as he got called up to the U-14 team and over there he was a stand-out performer for Mymensingh. 

Seeing that, his parents finally started to change their stance on their son and a few years later, they would witness their son hit the winning run to win his country a World Cup. 

Tanzim Hasan Sakib (Right-arm medium-pacer):

Unlike Bangladesh's left-arm off-spinning all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, this Sakib is a pace -, a right-arm pacer who idolises Mushfiqur Rahim and MS Dhoni. 

Born on 20 October 2002 in Sylhet, Sakib was inspired by another wicket-keeper Zakir Hasan to join BKSP.

Although he failed his first trial to join BKSP, coach Mohammad Kaisar Ahmed saw Sakib's potential in a month-long camp in Chattogram and told Sakib's father to let him pursue a career in cricket.

His father, convinced by Kaisar's words sent his son for another trial in BKSP in 2017 and this time he got accepted.

And from there, he made his way up to the U-19 World Cup team and because of his bowling, managed to play every single game in the World Cup-winning team. 

Shoriful Islam (Left-arm fast bowler):

This left-arm fast-bowler initially did poorly in his JSC exams in 2016 and that led his uncle to admit him in a cricket academy in Dinajpur.

The academy's coach Alamgir Kabir noticed Shoriful's work ethic and he decided to take Shoriful under his wing.

His consistent performances got him into Rajshahi's Clemon cricket academy and there he caught the eye of Khaled Mahmud and national team player Jahurul Islam.

With the support of these two men, Shoriful started playing List A and first-class cricket in Dhaka. 

Consistent performances with the ball got the boy - born on 3 June 2001 in Panchagar - a place in the U-19 World Cup team.      

From there he cemented his place as the leader of the pace attack for the U-19 World Cup team.