Captains united in excitement ahead of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup
Media release
“An honour”, “an unparalleled opportunity”, “a dream come true” - all phrases used by the captains of the 16 teams set to compete at the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.
The tournament will begin on 18 January with Malaysia playing host to sides from five continents.
Nur Dania Syuhada will lead the host country and is full of excitement at what the tournament will mean for Malaysia. She said: “Representing Malaysia at the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup is an unparalleled opportunity for us to showcase our talent on an international stage.”
“The entire cricket family in Malaysia are in excitement of seeing young talents represent the country on a global stage and it generates immense national pride.
“It’s also a chance to showcase the country’s cricketing future, and for the fans, it’s a moment to support their emerging stars.”
Some teams have had the chance to experience local conditions with Malaysia staging the inaugural U19 Women’s Asia Cup. Bangladesh reached the final, where they lost to India, and captain Sumaiya Akter is looking forward to returning.
She said: “We are very much excited to play in Malaysia for the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.
“We played the Asia Cup over here and we explored the fine culture of Malaysia. We really enjoyed the diversity of culture and food over here.”
Sri Lanka’s captain, Manudi Nanayakkara, who guided her side to the semi-finals of the Asia Cup, added: “We have done our homework. We are coming just after playing the U19 Women's Asia Cup, which gave us good exposure.
“Before coming here, we played a few games against Bangladesh U19, which adds muscle to our preparations.”
As well as being the holders of the Asia Cup, India are the defending champions in Malaysia having won the first edition of the tournament in South Africa in 2023.
Shafali Verma’s side defeated England in the final in Potchefstroom, and Niki Prasad has taken over the reins as skipper for the 2025 edition.
“The objective is very clear,” Prasad said. “To win this tournament and successfully defend the title which India won in the previous edition.
“It also happened to be the first edition of the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup. We are here to play a brand of cricket which will help us win the trophy and make our country and supporters proud.”
New Zealand are one of the teams with unfinished business having lost to India in the semi-finals two years ago.
For captain Tash Wakelin, the World Cup represents the opportunity to succeed on several fronts. She said: “Everyone is aiming for the same thing of trying to progress as far through the tournament as possible.
“However, as we are all still so young and continuing to grow and develop our individual games, experience and knowledge gained from this opportunity is invaluable.
“If we can all leave the tournament knowing, we gave it our all as well as a better understanding of our own games and stronger motivation and aspirations of wanting to play cricket at the highest level, then we can feel a strong sense of achievement within ourselves and as a group.”
England captain Abi Norgrave is also looking to seize the opportunity, she said: “As a team, we are looking to play with positive intent throughout the competition, along with enjoying the ride and taking every opportunity that is thrown at us to maximise the experience and obviously with the intent to win!”
2023 semi-finalists Australia have challenged themselves in a variety of conditions in preparation for the tournament.
“This year, the girls have competed in two different tri-series in Sri Lanka and Brisbane,” said captain Lucy Hamilton. “This was a great opportunity to develop as a team, and experience different challenging environments. The team have taken these opportunities as a great learning experience to prepare us for Malaysia.
“The team’s overall objective for this tournament is to do one better, make the World Cup final and come home with the trophy.”
Nigeria are one of four debutants in the tournament and captain Lucky Piety Ebosetale knows what it will mean to represent her country on the global stage.
“Our team’s main objective is to compete and aim for the highest goal in the tournament,” she explained.
“Personally, this is an opportunity to play on a big stage and perform my best, not only for the benefit of the team but also for myself and Nigeria.
“Our ultimate aim is to make our country proud and leave a lasting legacy in the tournament.”
Samoa captain Avetia Fetu Mapu said: “It means the world to us to participate in this tournament.
“This is a dream come true, not only for me but for every player on our team. Representing Samoa at this level is a huge honour and a responsibility we take seriously.
“It’s a chance to showcase our talent, celebrate our culture, and inspire the next generation of cricketers in Samoa.”
Nepal are the final debutants having been the last team to qualify and captain Puja Mahato has revealed what preparations have been like in the run up to the tournament.
She said: “Honestly, it’s been a wild ride! We’ve been grinding for months, putting in the hard yards to get to this point. We’ve had intense training sessions, worked on our weaknesses, and fine-tuned our game plans.”
Six returning teams made it to the Super 6 stage last time without advancing further, among them West Indies and their captain Samara Ramnath has set a marker for how she would like her team to play.
“Our team objectives are to play fearless, disciplined cricket and represent our region with pride,” she said. “We would also like to bring home the trophy to our region and make the people of our respective countries proud.
“Most importantly, it’s all about growing and improving as individuals as well as finding ways to improve our game as a team.”
Pakistan open their tournament against USA on Saturday and warmed up with an 11-run win against Nigeria and 54-run defeat to Australia.
“We are enthusiastic and looking forward to the big event,” said captain Komal Khan.
“Preparations for the World Cup have been quite fruitful for me and my team as our coaches worked really hard on helping us get here. We are excited to start playing.”
Ireland’s Amy Hunter, who has already played 74 times for Ireland’s senior women’s team, is returning to the U19 T20 World Cup for a second time.
She said: “As a group we definitely play our best cricket when we are having fun and enjoying each other’s successes.
“We have a really tight-knit group and girls that have played a lot of cricket together while also having some who may not have toured before, so I am sure it will be an amazing experience and hopefully we will have a lot of fun both on and off the pitch.”
South Africa’s captain Kayla Reyneke was part of the inaugural tournament on home soil and is now ready to experience a tournament overseas. She said: “We as a team are excited to be in Malaysia. It's different conditions, different culture and a beautiful country to visit.
“I think the nerves will definitely be there in a way but it’s about what we do with them and how we show up in spite of them. We’re excited to put the lessons we’ve learned from our home tour against USA into action and to go even further at this World Cup than we did at our previous one.”
Two returning teams failed to make it to the Super 6 stage in South Africa, with Scotland beating the USA in the fourth-place play-offs.
Scotland captain Niamh Muir said: “We want to play to our strengths and show how much it means to play for Scotland.
“We also want to get through the group stage for the first time and go as far as possible in the tournament. If we could win some games and reach the next round it would mean so much to everyone.
“We’ve worked really hard over the winter so it would mean the world to us to achieve that.”
Meanwhile USA skipper Anika Reddy Kolan said: “Playing for our country is an incredible honour that the whole team and I hold very close to our hearts.
“We acknowledge the prestige a World Cup holds and how many millions of cricketers across the world dream of someday representing their country on the world’s grandest global stage.
“Using the combination of experience and fresh talent, we’re all extremely excited to represent the stars and stripes of the USA flag in Malaysia.”
ENDS