Pakistan will bid for a third successive title when cricket's future stars go on display in the under-19 World Cup starting in Malaysia tomorrow.
The 16-nation tournament, featuring the most promising cricketing talent from around the world, has in the past provided a fair indication of the likely contenders for the big stage.
Former Test captains Brian Lara of the West Indies, Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka, Inzamam-ul-Haq of Pakistan and Nasser Hussain of England burst on the scene in the inaugural event in 1988.
West Indian Chris Gayle emerged from the next tournament in 1998 and since then the two-yearly event has thrown up stars like Yuvraj Singh, Chris Cairns, Graeme Smith, Michael Clarke and Mohammad Ashraful.
The competition has often been tougher and more unpredictable than at the senior level where Australia are the undisputed champions in both Test and one-day cricket with three successive World Cup titles.
At the junior level, the young Aussies have won just one of the last five World Cups since 1998. England and India have both taken it home once, while Pakistan were the dominant force in the last two editions.
Pakistan won the 2004 event in Bangladesh with a 25-run victory over the West Indies, before conjuring a stunning upset over arch-rivals India two years later in Colombo to win a second title.
In a sensational final at the Premadasa Stadium, the feisty Pakistanis defended a modest total of 109 by reducing India to 9-6 by the fourth over, before skittling them for 71 in just 18.5 overs.
The three seamers who fashioned Pakistan's win -- Jamshed Ahmed (2-24), Anwar Ali (5-35) and Akhtar Ayub (3-9) -- have yet to play at the senior level, but India gave their young talent an early break.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who took four wickets and scored an unbeaten 25 in the final, was playing a Test against England a month later and captain Rohit Sharma is now a one-day and Twenty20 regular.
Other players from the 2006 event who made it to the big league were West Indies batsman Keiron Pollard and the Bangladeshi duo of Tamim Iqbal and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim.
Young guns are not daunted by reputations. In 2006, cricketing non-entity Nepal stunned South Africa in the preliminary league and went on to defeat New Zealand in the Plate final.
Pakistan, however, will be the team to beat over the next two weeks after crushing Sri Lanka and England in a tri-series in Colombo earlier this month.
"We fought hard to win the last World Cup and if we show the same resolve there is no reason why we can't do it again," said captain Imad Wasim, a promising left-arm spinner.
Three Malaysian cities -- Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang -- will host the tournament, which ends on March 2.
The 10 regular cricket nations -- Australia, England, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe -- will be joined by five qualifiers and hosts Malaysia.
The regional qualifiers are Namibia (Africa), Nepal (Asia), Papua New Guinea (East Asia-Pacific), Ireland (Europe) and Bermuda (Americas).
The 16 teams have been divided into four groups, with the top two qualifying for the quarter-finals.
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