our correspondent
\nPESHAWAR
\nPakistan U19 will open their tour of Sri Lanka on Sunday with the opening match of the five-match 50-over cricket series in Hambantota.
\nThe two captains \u2013 Sri Lanka\u2019s Nipun Dananjaya and Rohail Nazir of Pakistan – attended the trophy unveiling ceremony with Rohail hoping to play a competitive series. Rohail said he was contented with the team\u2019s preparations and believed side was capable of winning the series against their counterparts.
\n \u201cThe series against Sri Lanka is going to be an exciting and tough series, which will help players from either side to prepare for next year\u2019s ICC U19 World Cup in South Africa.
\n\u201cOur coaches have prepared us keeping in mind the spinning tracks in Sri Lanka, so I feel that the conditions won\u2019t be a problem for us,\u201d Rohail said.
\nHe added: \u201cWe have a great bunch of players in this team that is capable of winning matches on their own. Sri Lanka is a tough opponent to beat especially at home, so we are ready for the challenge.
\nWicketkeeper batsman Rohail was one of the star performers in the Inter-Region U19 One-day tournament held in August last year (238 runs in seven matches).
\nSaim Ayub, a lefty top-order batsman from Karachi, is another performer from the Inter-Region U19 tournament where he scored 325 runs in seven matches at an average of 65 including two centuries and a half-century.
\nSri Lanka have named left-handed batsman Nipun Dananjaya as their captain while Kamil Mishara also a left-handed batsman is his deputy for the first three 50-over cricket matches. In the remaining two 50-over matches, the two will swap roles.
\nSquads (to be selected from):
\nPakistan- Rohail Nazir (captain, wicket-keeper) (Islamabad); Mohammad Taha (vice-captain) (Karachi); Abbas Afridi (FATA); Akhtar Shah (Quetta); Basit Ali (Multan); Haider Ali (Rawalpindi); Khayyam Khan (wicketkeeper) (Abbottabad); Mohammad Haris (Peshawar); Mohammad Junaid (Quetta); Mohammad Wasim (FATA); Niaz Khan (Peshawar); Saim Ayub (Karachi); Shiraz Khan (Rawalpindi); Suleman Shafqat (Faisalabad) and Qasim Akram (Lahore)
\nSri Lanka – Nipun Dananjaya \u2013 captain, Kamil Mishara \u2013 vice captain, Ashen Daniel, Avishka Tharindu, Chamidu Wijesinghe, Dilshan Madushanka, Dilum S. Tillakaratne, Mohomed Shamaz, Naveen Fernando, Navod Paranavitana, Pawan Ratnayake, Raveen De Silva, Ravindu Rashantha, Rohan Sanjaya, Sandun Mendis and Sonal Dinusha
\nTour schedule:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
our correspondent PESHAWAR Pakistan U19 will open their tour of Sri Lanka on Sunday with the opening match of the five-match 50-over cricket series in Hambantota. The two captains \u2013 Sri Lanka\u2019s Nipun Dananjaya and Rohail Nazir of Pakistan – attended the trophy unveiling ceremony with Rohail hoping to play a competitive series. Rohail said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n