Sri Lanka Under-19 coach Naveed Nawaz told Sunday Island that improved standard of fitness transformed his team to a winning outfit in the Youth ODI series in Australia.

Sri Lanka Under-19 team, who are preparing for the forthcoming ICC Under-19 World Cup, beat Australia Under-19 3-2 in the five match Youth ODI series last month.

Nawaz said that the coaching team identified fitness as a vital factor that needed to be addressed to beat tough opponents like Australia and South Africa.

"We wanted to make the team 100% physically strong to beat tough rivals like Australia. There was a specific program to address this. From the time the pool of players were selected they came under this program. The program helped them improve their fitness level. It was this factor which helped the team beat their tough opponents in the tournament which was decided in the fifth match," Nawaz told Sunday Island.

Nawaz complimented under-19 team’s trainer Dharshana Weerasinghe who was in charge of fitness training of the team for a job well done. Darshana is the son of popular singer Shoan Weerasinghe.

Sri Lanka’s success down under came few months after it lost a series 4-1 to Bangladesh in a youth ODI series. Nawaz said that beating an Australian side in Australia is some thing outstanding and the victory was a huge moral boost for the team. He said that the Australian team had players who had represented their regional teams in first class matches and beating such a team would give the team confidence.

While there were several outstanding performances during the tour there were also a few players who were not up to their potential. But Nawaz opinioned that although the performances of some players looked below par on paper all the members of the team contributed to the success in different ways.

Asked whether the players who underperformed would be replaced he said that the opportunity would be given to all members of the pool in the couple of tours ahead before finalizing the final squad.

Sri Lanka Under-19 will have a tight schedule ahead with Pakistan and Bangladesh coming here for a tri nation tournament in November and the team touring South Africa just before the World Cup in December.

Nawaz admitted that it was a tough schedule for the team with school cricket season in full swing and two international tournaments held within the phase of two months. However he said that the tough schedule would not drain the energy of the team as it will not be the same team that will compete in all matches. He said that the teams for matches will be picked from the 30 member pool.

Nawaz said that the victory in Australia has raised high expectations and the coaching staff including Aravinda de Silva and Upul Chandana is taking on the challenge to keep the momentum going.

He said that the team members who were under their supervision for the last few months have improved remarkably. Although winning is vital the improvement in players alone is an achievement in itself. Incidentally, most of the Under-19 squad members were seen performing remarkably well with confidence and more intent for their respective schools in the on going school tournament after returning from Australia.

"It is a good sign that they have grown in confidence," said Nawaz who was happy to see the results of the hard work.

Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council announced the draw for the Youth World Cup last week and Sri Lanka are drawn in group ‘C’ along with hosts New Zealand, Canada and Zimbabwe.