Selector explains Under-19 defeat

The Pakistan Under-19s lost badly to the India Under-19s because Pakistan had fielded a relatively inexperienced team, said Iqbal Qasim, the chairman of Pakistan's nations cricket junior committee.

"Actually their [India] players also have experience of the last Under-19 World Cup besides first-class matches, but we have just included the youngsters who showed their best in the ongoing domestic activities," Qasim told The News.

Pakistan lost 2-0 to India in the two-'Test' series held in September. While they lost by 271 runs in the first match at Rawalpindi, the defeat in the second match at Peshawar was even more comprehensive with India wrapping up the proceedings inside three days to win by an innings and 240 runs.

"Pakistan has had less time to form a combined team from among the best available players at the junior level, besides the regional event [Inter-region championship] is still going on due to that the selector did not find much time to see and find out the best among the existing talent," said Qasim. "I hope with the passage of time these youngsters would improve their performance," he added.

The two teams will meet next on September 19 to play the first game of the four-match one-day series.