Bangladesh coach Naveed Nawaz says there is no magic formula behind their domination of Asian age-group cricket other than hard work. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/bangladesh-cricket/" target="_blank">Bangladesh</a> claimed a second Under 19 Asia Cup title in successive years as they beat India at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. The defending champions – who <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/2023/12/17/uae-win-hearts-but-outstanding-bangladesh-take-u19-asia-cup-title-in-dubai/" target="_blank">beat the UAE in the final</a> at the same venue in 2023 – successfully defended 199. The 59-run win, against a side including players bound for the riches of the Indian Premier League, was ecstatically received by a substantial crowd in Sports City. The double success in the Asia Cup follows on from Bangladesh winning the U19 World Cup in South Africa in 2022. “We have got amazing talent coming through in the juniors,” said Nawaz, who was also the coach when Bangladesh won the World Cup, before returning for a two-year stint with the senior side of his native Sri Lanka. “It is just about how to structure them and give the necessary training. There is no magic done, just pure hard work. [The support] is also amazing and it boosts the boys up a lot.” This tournament was prefaced by the IPL auction, which saw Vaibhav Suryavanshi become <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/cricket/2024/11/26/ipl-2025-auction-likely-return-of-virat-kohli-as-captain-a-13-year-old-recruit-and-other-talking-points/" target="_blank">the youngest ever player</a> to be recruited to the world’s biggest franchise competition. Aged 13, the India opener has been marked out as a star of the future, having landed a contract worth $130,000 to play for Rajasthan Royals. The present was not so easy, though. The left-hander made successive half centuries leading into the final, but was unable to anchor India’s run chase against Bangladesh. When he carved a catch to backward point off Maruf Mridah, he was given the sort of send off that Mohammed Siraj might even have baulked at. India were 24-2 at that point, and a total that had seemed below the mark suddenly felt defendable for Bangladesh. “The score of 199 was a bit here or there, but in a final it could be enough,” Nawaz said. “The support from the crowd was unbelievable and boosted the boys up very much. It was a big game and we knew people could make mistakes. We did when we were batting. We were about 40 runs short of the par score in this ground. “All we discussed were the plans we had against them, and the need to focus on those plans. If we could take advantage of the mistakes they made, then we would be on top.” When the final wicket fell, the non-playing reserves of Bangladesh raced on to the field with their country’s flag around their shoulders. Azizul Hakim, the captain who was bowling when the wicket fell, was overcome with emotion as he knelt beside the wicket. “I was very, very confident in our bowling side,” Hakim said. “We had good plans and it was just a matter of executing those.” Iqbal Hossain Emon, the Bangladesh fast-bowler, was the player of the match and the tournament, for his respective hauls of three and 13 wickets.