South Africa to begin title defence against hosts Bangladesh

Hosts Bangladesh will take on defending champions South Africa in the opening game of the Under-19 World Cup in Chittagong on January 27 next year. The match is one of 20 games that will be broadcast live, compared to 11 matches telecast during the 2014 competition in the UAE. The tournament final will be played in Dhaka on February 14.

Sixteen teams will participate in the tournament including six qualifiers - Scotland, Namibia, Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji and Nepal - across eight venues in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Cox's Bazar. Group D looks the most notable of the four groups as Australia, India, New Zealand and Nepal will compete for two knockout berths.

Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara and Bangladesh fast bowlers Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed attended the tournament launch programme in Dhaka on Monday, along with BCB president Nazmul Hassan and ICC general manager Geoff Allardice.

Sangakkara joked he wasn't "good enough" to play in the U-19 World Cup all those years ago, but identified the importance of the tournament for the transition of young players into international cricket.

"I watched a lot of players around the world who played in the U-19 World Cup," Sangakkara said. "It is great to see talent being recognised at a very young age and then get the exposure at an international stage to showcase their skills. It introduces them to professionalism, structure and the expectations of what they should be doing to step up to the international level."

Allardice recognised Bangladesh - who are hosting the event for the second time - as an ideal candidate in terms of amenities, especially with the addition of two stadiums in Cox's Bazar for this tournament.

"It is a very important tournament for the ICC. It is the aspiration of every young cricketer to make it to their U-19 national team," Allardice said. "Nine of the ten Test captains have played in the U-19 World Cup at some stage.

"I think the global nature of this tournament is important for cricket. It tends to expose the young players to the world stage. They are also exposed to education programmes like anti-corruption and anti-doping.

"One of the things about the U-19 World Cup is to find a host city or country that has sufficient match and training facilities to host the 16 teams. Bangladesh ticks all the boxes in that regard. We hosted 26 teams in the ICC World T20 in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet and this time we are also playing in Cox's Bazar."

BCB chief Hassan said he was confident of the competition's success. "Bangladesh has a proud history of hosting ICC events," he said. "This is the second Under-19 World Cup that Bangladesh will be hosting. Given the passion and enthusiasm with which we organise and follow cricket, I am confident this tournament will also be successful."