A 16-member Bangladesh National Youth team left the Bangladesh capital for Singapore Saturday morning to participate in the Asia Youth Cup Under-19 Cricket tournament.

The Singapore-bound team comprises 14 cricketers and two officials with Fahim Muntasir Sumit as captain and Imran Ahmed vice-captain.

The eight-team Asia Youth Cup'99, a qualifying meet for the World Youth Championship, will be held in Singapore on July 5-11.

The top two teams will qualify for the World Youth Championship, slated for next January in Sri Lankan capital Colombo.

Bangladesh have been placed in Group A along with Hong Kong, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while Group B comprises Thailand, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and host Singapore.

Bangladesh will play their first match with Hong Kong on July 5, meet Malaysia the following day (July 6) and will play their last group match with UAE on July 7.

The 14 cricketers are: Fahim Muntasir Sumit, Imran Ahmed, Hannan Sarker, Sadiq Hasan, Nahidul Haq Shaon, Mazharul Haq Mridul, Golam Mortuza, Imran Rahim Lalu, Bikash Ranjan Das (Rana), Rezaul Haq Nayeem, Tariqul Hasan Tushar, Mohammad Selim, Mosaddek Hossain Rubel and Rajin Salah Alam.

Officials: Manager - Kutubuddin Aksir, Coach - Abdul Hadi Ratan.