Azeem Ghumman led the Pakistan Under-19s to the final of the 2010 ICC World Cup in New Zealand. The Hyderabad batsman spoke to PakPassion about the current U-19 team's prospects in the 2012 World Cup due to commence on 11 August.

By Waleed Saleem (27 July 2012)

Azeem Ghumman led the Pakistan Under-19s to the final of the 2010 ICC World Cup in New Zealand. The side included Ahmed Shehzad, Raza Hasan and Hammad Azam, who have subsequently gone on to be selected in the full national limited overs squads. He also captained the Pakistan A side on a tour to Sri Lanka in 2010.

Hyderabad-born Ghumman made his first-class debut at the age of 16 and has played 34 first-class matches for his home side. With the ninth edition of the U-19 World Cup due to commence on 11 August, he spoke to PakPassion.net about Pakistan's prospects in the upcoming competition to be held in Australia.


On the strengths of the current Pakistan U-19 team for the World Cup.

I don’t think there is much wrong with player selections - they recently defeated South Africa and tied with India utilising a similar squad. Young talent is being showcased and amongst the players selected, I particularly look forward to seeing Babar Azam, Usman Qadir, Sami Aslam and Zia-ul-Haq perform.

The strength of the team lies in the batting. The tournament is being held in Australia and as I mentioned to Babar Azam [current U-19 captain] before the squad departed, they won’t find conditions easy out there. However from what I have observed, the batting seems to be the team's strength and all of top seven are scoring runs. In 2010, when we played the U-19 tournament in New Zealand, our strength was the middle order and all-rounders. I remember we didn’t have a single middle order batsman - everyone was an opener! Those openers became middle order batsman although to date, only Hammad Azam has settled into that position. So from the current U-19 team, I feel that from a batting persepctive they have the potential to score runs from any position.


On the pressures on young cricketers at the U-19 World Cup.

Pressure comes when you reach the knock-out stages. I know Babar Azam well and am aware of his skills as a captain. This will be the second time he will appear in a World Cup and I am sure he will be aware of what’s required of him and his team. Other players might come under pressure, but he has the experience to know what kind of field placements he should have.

Babar has played for Pakistan at various levels, including Under-15s, Under-19s and Pakistan A and has a mature outlook in addition to being a very a good player. I think that he’ll lead from the front. Given that the team and coach are both very good, my advice definitely would be that they should take each match seriously, but also enjoy the experience. I feel that they shouldn't put themselves under undue pressure. Pakistan are the best team at the Under-19 World Cup and I believe they are going to win it.


On the main threats to Pakistan.

In 2010, Australia won the World Cup but to be honest we went to the final by defeating better teams than Australia, despite their ultimate victory. I still remember Australia was not the best of the teams at the tournament but whoever builds momentum takes the World Cup.

I feel that Pakistan's key match will be against India. Pakistan went to South Africa and defeated them there, then went to Malaysia and defeated everyone but we only tied against India. In addition to this, there is always pressure in an Indo-Pak match.

Given Pakistan's group matches are relatively easy, I think they should qualify for the quarter-finals. Once you reach quarter-finals, you cannot afford a single mistake. The quarter-final can be against anyone and I feel they will be up against very dangerous teams. Take India for a start - you play hard against them and you know how they play. The West Indies don’t get tired playing big shots ball after ball in the first ten overs. Then there are the Australians. These are the teams that I feel are the most dangerous. Bangladesh should also not be written-off - if you look at Bangladesh's senior international team, it consists of players who are 23-24 years old and we struggled to beat them in the last Under-19 World Cup.

I cannot really single out a particular team as Pakistan's main competitor - each team has its own strengths.


On weaknesses of Pakistan's WC squad.

Our batsmen and bowlers are fine. It's the fielding which may be our weakness. During the last World Cup, Ijaz Ahmed made us practise fielding a lot and we used to have two or three practice sessions every day. We practised so much that even the most ordinary fielders began fielding really well! Ijaz was an extremely dedicated individual. We used to get exhausted catching 50-60 balls each - imagine how tired Ijaz must have been after throwing that many balls to each player!

I think fielding is the only department where our current team might struggle but Sabih Azhar and the other coaches will work on this and iron out the flaws.


On extras conceded during the Asia Cup.

Sabih Azhar was our coach in January when we toured Zimbabwe for the first time. We used to evaluate our performance after each game - Sabih bhai took into account even the minute details. We won almost all the matches on the tour but later, he pointed out that we had bowled too many no balls and wides, so he does pay attention to this aspect of the game. However captain Babar Azam has a lot of experience at Under-19 level and I think our team will be able to rectify this problem.

As captain, I used to set a 6-2 field, give the ball to the bowler and tell him “I wont mind if you get hit for a four or a six through these six fielders. However, if the batsman hits you for a four or a six on the leg side where there are only two fielders placed, I'm going to give you a stick.” Of course, as a captain you should consider input from the bowler before setting the field, and should aim to build up his confidence.

Our bowlers did bowl a few too many extras in the Asia Cup held last month. However, it's not the extras, but the fielding that is the greater area of concern - even the other teams bowl quite a lot of extras.


On dealing with pressure at a young age.

The team that I lead in the 2010 World Cup had been playing together for almost six months prior to the tournament. We had gelled really well as we had quite a lot of tours prior to the start of the World Cup. I was given strict instructions that I was to spend most of my time with team management. During that time, Ijaz Ahmed taught me a lot of things. He taught me how to deal with the players, what to do and what not to do. At times during the matches on the Zimbabwean tour, he would even signal to me from the boundary line, grooming me for the World Cup.

As for the current team, I don't think they will have many problems. They have been playing together under Sabih bhai's coaching for quite some time - they toured South Africa, played the Asia Cup and are going for the World Cup after a lot of practice. Now they're going to Australia where they will play a series against Australia before the World Cup. In my time, we also played a series against New Zealand before the World Cup held there. Such a series gives you an edge over the other teams as it helps you adjust to the conditions before the main event.


As part of their preparations for the ICC U-19 World Cup, the Pakistan U-19 team play a 3 match ODI series against their Australian counterparts between 29th July and 3rd August. Pakistan will play their World Cup opener against Afghanistan on 11 August at Buderim.