BCB appointed Nawaz last month after Stuart Law’s contract was not renewed. Law was Bangladesh’s head coach in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup, but has since joined the senior USA men’s national team that reached the Super Eight stage at the T20 World Cup 2024.
Nawaz said that Bangladesh’s next batch of Under-19 players will face expectations – like he will – as he has returned since his trophy-winning campaign. He said that he wants to develop the team from the grassroots level and give the players confidence in a positive team environment.
“This expectation is on the players as well in a country like Bangladesh, where people are almost crazy about cricket,” Nawaz said. “They love the game so much. Players will carry the burden of expectations. Coming back to Bangladesh after winning the World Cup in 2020, obviously there will be expectations (on me), but I think I have to focus on other things. It has been four years since winning the World Cup. There’s a lot of work to be done.
“As always, BCB has laid down a brilliant programme like in the past. We will put our shared experience, we will cover every base that this group of boys will face in the next two years. We want to give them as much experience as possible. Give them the confidence, help them grow. Players are the main carriers of this game. We must create a happy environment for the players. They have to make decisions independently. Coaches will help them make better decisions in the future. That’s what we did four years ago. It produced results for us. The basics haven’t changed yet.”
Nawaz said that he will go around the country to find talented cricketers, and then discuss with the age-group selectors what type of cricketers the team requires to play in Zimbabwe and Namibia for the 2026 edition.
“The plan is very simple for the next two years,” he said. “We know what type of cricket the U19 boys play all over the world. There’s been a lot of visibility. My first job would be to sit with the selectors, to see what are the [pieces of the] puzzles that match. What type of talent do we have to make a great team, that can win.
“We want to understand the talent from worldwide and try to put in all the benchmarks in our players and try to reach it in two years. That’s what we did before. We want to build a team in two years that can compare with any other country without any fear.”
Nawaz, however, asked expectations from young players to be tempered, and not to focus on players becoming superstars overnight.
“We unearth a lot of talent in age group cricket in countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. International cricket is so challenging that even if you are very talented at the ages of 18, 19 or 20, it doesn’t tell the story that you are going to be a superstar by the age of 25 or 30.
“Cricket is a lot more analytical than before; oppositions find you out very quickly. It is about the players being able to work their way out, to understand and rectify their game. You can’t be holding a technical or mental issue for too long. You have to get over it. BCB will look into it in the HP or higher age-group programmes where you give the players confidence to perform at higher stages.”
