Bangladesh's Akbar Ali among Cricinfo’s '20 cricketers for 2020s'

Bangladesh’s Under-19 World Cup winning captain Akbar Ali has been named in a list of youngsters who ESPNCricinfo pundits think 'will dominate the decade'.

Describing Akbar’s heroic performance in the last world cup final, The Cricket Monthly of the ESPN on Monday stated, “Akbar's calmness under pressure in this year's U-19 World Cup final… just win Bangladesh the trophy, it also gave the world a glimpse of a future international cricketer.”

After the historic match against India, the Bangladesh’s keeper-batsman told news agency IANS, "It's like a dream coming true. It's all about the hard work that we put in the last 2 years. It's purely hard work.”

Following World Cup victory, Akbar, along with his fellows, was awarded a chance in the Under-21 team which would be of utter importance for the cricketers.

Akbar, who is adorably called 'Akbar The Great', was a born-talent and a real hard-worker. Recapping his determination for the early age, one of his childhood trainers Anjan Sarkar said, “Akbar threw himself heart and soul into the training and practice, and today he stands on top of the world.”

Akbar took part in the Dinajpur BKSP camp thrice in 2012. In 2013 he was admitted to BKSP in Dhaka and played in the Under-16, 17 and 18 teams for BKSP. After completing his secondary and higher secondary schooling in BKSP, Akbar is now studying BBA at a private university in the capital city.

The list of ‘20 cricketers for the 2020s’ includes Indian batsmen Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prithvi Shaw and fast bowler Kartik Tyagi, English batsmen Tom Banton and Ollie Pope, Afghanistan’s left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad, batsmen Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, legspinner Qais Ahmad19, Pakistan’s fast bowlers Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and batsman Haider Ali, Australian batsmen Josh Philippe and Jake Fraser-McGurk New Zealand’s allrounder Rachin Ravindra, South Africa’s fast bowler Gerald Coetzee, West Indies pacer Jayden Seales, and Sri Lankan left-arm orthodox spinner Lasith Embuldeniya.