LAHORE: A six-week training and preparation camp kicked off for the Pakistan U-19 cricket team in connection with ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2022 here at the National High Performance Centre (NHPC) on Monday.

The six-week camp is the first of a series of training and preparation camps that will be staged throughout the year at various high performance centres across the country. The objective to set up the camp 12 months prior to the event proper is to ensure the Pakistan U-19 cricket team is fully prepared and ready for the competition, it last won in 2006.

The 31 players have been selected following their impressive performances in the recently-concluded PCB U-19 three-day and one-day tournaments and, more importantly, keeping in mind the ICC's age criteria for the World Cup, which only allows players born on or after 1 Sep 2002 to be eligible to participate in the 14th edition of the competition.

Due to the ICC's age eligibility criteria, some of the star performers from this season's PCB U-19 three-day and one-day tournaments, including Mohammad Huraira, Mubashir Nawaz, Mubashir Khan and Saim Ayub, have been aged-out for the West Indies event. Nevertheless, the two age-group events have proved to be a stepping-stone for these talented cricketers to graduate to the senior competitions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021