'I want to see them be the best' - Law

Stuart Law has said that his love for influencing a young player's technique has brought him to Bangladesh for a second time. On this occasion he will work as the technical advisor to the Bangladesh Under-19 team who are preparing for the World Cup in early next year.

Appointed earlier this month, Law will be with the programme for a total of 16 weeks, which he will complete in three phases. He arrived in Dhaka on Monday evening and will accompany the team for the first phase of training from August 29 to September 10 and will stay on for a duration of four weeks. The team will play some practice matches but the focus will be more on training at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium.

Law was the head coach of Bangladesh's senior side for nine months from June 2011 to the end of March 2012. He also worked with Sri Lanka and Australia, and also had stints with Australia's Under-19 side after leaving the Bangladesh job.

"I loved working with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Australia national teams," Law said. "It is a different challenge to get a player who is around 16 to 19, offer them advice, see them take it on board and put it into practice. It gives me more of a buzz than I used to get hundreds. Bangladesh Under-19 is my team. I don't like losing, so I want to see them be the best I can be. If by chance, with good hard work and some luck, we can lift the trophy at the end of February, I will be very happy.

"Since leaving Bangladesh, I worked with Australia's burgeoning young players. They aren't as physically matured. You have to take a different approach. You need to be having fun to play the best cricket. It seems some of these young guys have worked that out already. I am not here to change anything. I am here to help the system the way it is at the moment. They have got the plan in place. I am just here to add value to the plan."

The age-group side has been doing well since the last World Cup that was held in January 2014 in the UAE. Under the coaching of Mizanur Rahman Babul, the Bangladesh Under-19s have won three one-day series against Sri Lanka and South Africa. They recently beat South Africa 5-2 in South Africa. The results prompted the BCB into appointing Law as the technical advisor, but he believes that the pressure of playing the World Cup at home can be contained by doing the basics well.

"There is always pressure when you are playing at home," Law said. "They have to learn to deal with the pressure if they choose to play cricket as their profession. It is nothing compared to the pressure they have to face in international cricket. It is nice that the Bangladesh public expect the Bangladeshi teams to do really well. It is a credit to the team that they have done well in the recent past. We have to forget about winning the thing and worry about the basics."

Bangladesh have won the Plate championship in the Under-19 World Cup in 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2014 but have never reached the semifinals of the Cup phase. Expectations this time around, especially playing at home, will be of them to lift the main title for the first time.

Law said that it can't be done overnight but the progress of the current team has been encouraging enough for him to not change anything. "To make a champion team is a difficult challenge. It is not all down to one person either. As long as the players continue to work hard and coaches continue to nurture the talent and not try to make it too difficult and try not to change too many things.

"There's no magic formula that can be used to make a world champion team. It all comes down to good, honest hard work and performing well on each day. The game is not about winning. It is about turning up and doing your best every day."