KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15: Pakistan will bid for a third successive title when cricket’s future stars take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup, which starts in Malaysia on Sunday.

The 16-nation tournament, featuring the most promising 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 at the inaugural event in 1988.

West Indian Chris Gayle emerged when the tournament was re-launched in 1998 and since then the two-yearly event has thrown up stars such as Yuvraj Singh, Chris Cairns, Graeme Smith, Michael Clarke and Mohammad Ashraful.

International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said at Friday’s opening ceremony that he was excited at the new talent the tournament will unearth.

“This event is designed to be a finishing school for young cricketers,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for these young players to test their skills against their peers from around the world.

“But it is about more than that. It’s about receiving education on matters of anti-corruption and anti-doping, it’s about learning how to cope with questions from the media and generally being in the spotlight.

“It’s about managing to perform to the best of your ability in the midst of all the necessary distractions that go along with events like this.

“In short, it’s about becoming well-rounded sportsmen.”

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 past five World Cups since 1998. England and India have both taken it home once, while Pakistan have been the dominant force of late.

They 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 Sri Lanka.

In a sensational final at Colombo’s R. 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 Khan (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.

Young guns are not daunted by reputations. In 2006, cricketing non-entity Nepal stunned South Africa in the preliminary league and went on to beat New Zealand in the Plate final — held for teams who failed to qualify for the knockout stages. Three cities, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang, will host the tournament, which ends on March 2.

The 10 regular cricket nations — Australia, England, India, Pakistan, the 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.

The knock-out matches and the final will all be played in Kuala Lumpur.

ICC U-19 World Cup groups and schedule:

Preliminary groups: