Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
AFGHANISTAN’s teenage cricketers have begun acclimatising in Harare, while newly-crowned Under-19 Asia Cup champions Pakistan will have to cut their celebrations short and head for Zimbabwe to take part in a crucial tri-nation Youth One Day International series that gets underway tomorrow.
The series, which will be staged in Harare and runs until January 6, is crucial for the three teams, who are using it as a platform to finalise their preparations for the upcoming ICC Under-19 Men’s World Cup 2026 to be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia from next month.
The countdown gathered momentum with the arrival of Afghanistan Under-19 late Monday evening and the visitors wasted no time as they conducted their first training session on Zimbabwean soil yesterday.
The Afghans are expected to give Zimbabwe a good run, coming from the Under-19 Asia Cup which they hosted in the United Arab Emirates in the last two weeks, and concluding with Pakistan being crowned the champions after a victory over India in last Saturday’s final.
Zimbabwe and Afghanistan get the tri-nation series underway in a Christmas day clash tomorrow at the Harare Sports Club.
The second match will see Afghanistan take on Pakistan at the same venue on Saturday.
The tournament will then move to Prince Edward School next Monday, where Zimbabwe will face Pakistan before the hosts return to action on New Year’s Eve against Afghanistan at Sunrise Sports Club.
Afghanistan and Pakistan will meet again on January 2 at Sunrise Sports Club, while the final round-robin fixture will be staged at Old Hararians Sports Club two days later, with Zimbabwe taking on Pakistan.
The top two teams on the points table will contest the tri-series final, scheduled for January 6 at Old Hararians Sports Club.
“This tri-series is a key part of our final preparations for the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup,” said Zimbabwe Cricket Managing Director, Givemore Makoni.
“Playing against strong Under-19 teams like Afghanistan and Pakistan will give our players the quality match experience they need ahead of a major global event on home soil.” ZC named their 15-member squad last week led by Simbarashe Mudzengerere.
Coach Elton Chigumbura believes his schoolboys have made remarkable improvement in the last year.
The Zimbabwe Under-19 side has been preparing for the last 18 months and have played youth international matches as well as engaging the local franchises.
“I thought the first three months coming from schoolboys’ cricket, when you’re given an opposition that is over 22-23 (years), there are some nerves,” Chigumbura said in a ZC podcast with Dean du Plessis.
“They thought they were in the deep end but the more we kept playing against the older teams, they started to understand at the end of the day it’s between ball and the bat.
“And they quickly adjusted to the pace of the game in terms of playing with older guys who had a bit more experience. They also started to understand if you make a mistake, you get punished for that.
“So, there was a big improvement after three months to a point where come this year, they were now used to playing against older guys and we started to see some good performances.
“We had the number of players getting fivers and a number getting hundreds, which shows that they adapted quickly. They understood at this stage if you play Under-19 cricket, you’re capable of also playing international cricket. There’s no big difference.
“Most probably the biggest difference would be in terms of experience. But the standard of cricket it’s almost similar to what you get when you go to first class cricket and also international cricket. So, I thought the gap got narrower the more we played against the older guys,” said Chigumbura.
