Pakistan have been on a roll at the ICC U 19 CWC and would certainly hope to keep things going in New Zealand.

And it will again be considered to be one of the favourites to win the title, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the senior side that enjoyed a scintillating victory at the ICC World Twenty20 2009.

The 2008 U19 event saw Pakistan winning all its group matches, beating Malaysia by eight wickets, Zimbabwe by 87 runs and New Zealand by 27 runs. It proceeded to defeat Australia by six wickets in the quarter finals but was out-smarted by South Africa by 98 runs (Duckworth-Lewis method) in the semi-finals to end its bid for a hat-trick tournament victory after its triumphs in 2004 and 2006.

In recent games, Pakistan thrashed Zimbabwe to win an ODI series 6-1 in October 2009, although it lost a thrilling tri-series final in December 2009 after Sri Lanka snatched a one-wicket victory off the last ball of the game, having lost a group match to the same team by seven runs earlier in the tournament.

Hammad Azam is a useful all-rounder while skipper Azeem Ghumman was the highest run-getter in the series against Zimbabwe with 248 runs. With the ball, spinners Raza Hasan and Usman Qadir will both play important roles.

It will expect to comfortably progress through the group stage, where it will face Bangladesh, who it defeated by 68 runs in the Tri-Series in November 2009, West Indies and Papua New Guinea, and it will be fascinating to see if the side is capable of winning a record third ICC U19 Cricket World Cup.