U19 coach Naveed looks beyond World Cup success

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) reappointed Naveed Nawaz -- the ICC Under-19 World Cup winning coach with Bangladesh -- last month for a second stint, hoping to develop new talents and form another successful batch.

In his first stint, Naveed nurtured a team that won the world title in South Africa in 2020 and youngsters like Towhid Hridoy and Shoriful Islam from that side have already made their mark in international cricket.

Given Bangladesh national team's current difficulty in producing results in ICC events, perhaps following the template that served the U19 team so well could be an option.

Naveed's U19 team played several matches in foreign conditions leading up to the World Cup and their preparation served them well in the tournament.

Thus, when Naveed, who arrived in Mirpur yesterday to officially take over, was asked whether the U19 template can be followed in the national team, he felt there was a case for it.

"I am sure [template can serve BCB]. All the planning that's going on, there is room for that," the Sri Lankan told The Daily Star following his press conference.

However, Naveed sees difficulty in devising a programme just like the U19s due to the ICC FTP calendar and sees value in the team touring abroad and allowing players to play franchise cricket in other countries.

"That's something [playing abroad or taking part in franchise cricket] that people have improvised with and thought about on what they want to do and which areas they want to develop," said Naveed, who rejoined the Bangladesh U19 team following his stint as Sri Lanka national team's assistant coach.

The U19 team's success in South Africa is arguably Bangladesh's greatest achievement in cricket. However, Naveed did not want to get buried under expectation.

"Me coming back after having won a World Cup in 2020, of course there is expectation. I think I have to focus on other things rather than something that passed four years ago. Tournaments are not won just because you have won it in the past," said Naveed at yesterday's press conference.

But above all, he spoke about the need to nurture talent, using leg-spinner Rishad Hossain as an example who couldn't make the cut in the U19 World Cup winning squad in 2020 but made a great impression in the recent ICC T20 World Cup.

"You got to work on technical and mental issues, you can't hold onto them [problems] for long. That's something BCB will be looking to do at in their HP and age-group programmes.

"Look at him [Rishad] now. It's important that U19 is running well but it's also important that we look after the bigger group of our players as well."