Farhan Ahmed feels England's team spirit leaves them well-placed to progress in the ICC Men's U19 World Cup.
Nottinghamshire's Ahmed is England's vice-captain for the tournament, with the Young Lions set to face Bangladesh in the first fixture of the Super Sixes (Monday 26 January, 7.30am GMT), having finished top of the group stages.
Ahmed was part of England's last U19 World Cup campaign, which saw the side reach the Super Sixes, and he cites the squad's togetherness in both competitions as a key ingredient.
"The main thing I’ve said from the last World Cup was how tight we were as a group, and how that’s very important," he told Hector Vickers in Zimbabwe.
"This tour, we’ve been exactly that – everyone has been together, and everyone has been supporting each other, which helps us on the field."
Ahmed has taken four wickets across England's opening three games while maintaining a miserly economy rate of 3.16, and forging a productive partnership with fellow spinner Ralphie Albert.
And he believes his skills dovetail well with the Surrey left-armer.
"I’ve enjoyed bowling with Ralphie," he said.
"We both played the series before against West Indies, where I got to know him more.
"Since coming to the World Cup we’ve worked together quite a bit, in terms of our plans to batters and how we go about things individually, and how to bring it all together.
"Overall, I'm happy with the team’s performances so far, and personally it's good to contribute to the team.
"When we came here, we set out to win the first group stage, and we’ve topped the group so we’re very happy."
Ahmed, who has been joined at the World Cup in a coaching capacity by Nottinghamshire's Steven Mullaney, led the Young Lions in their recent white-ball series against West Indies.
"It was a real honour to captain the side," he reflected.
"The players made it very easy for me. The results didn’t go our way, but the learnings from that have been really important for this World Cup.
"We're confident going into the Bangladesh game. They're a good side, and we know they’re going to be up for it, so we need to keep bringing our A game to maintain our momentum."
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