The 2024 edition of U-19 World Cup is set to begin in January and with membership of Sri Lanka Cricket suspended on November 10, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had no choice but to move the tournament from the island nation to South Africa.
The thoughts of having an “interim committee” to run affairs wasn’t entertained as there is not much time before the tournament starts and the global body didn’t want any “last moment chaos”.
“There was no option but to move it out of Sri Lanka. Lot of interaction and coordination is required with the host nation and in current situation, it would have been last moment chaos to interact even with an interim committee in Sri Lanka,” a senior ICC official tells CricketNext.
READ MORE: ‘Be Fearless and Do Whatever It Takes’: Suryakumar Yadav’s Message to the Youngsters Ahead of T20I Series vs Australia – News18
Moving to South Africa was a safe “tried and tested” option since the country has already hosted U-19 Women’s World Cup and Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year, and the global body was comfortable moving it there because there is no dearth of infrastructure in the region too.
“South Africa has already hosted two ICC events this year – Women’s T20 World Cup and U-19 Women’s World Cup and infrastructure wise they are very sorted. The country is not new to hosting big events and was a very tried and tested option, and ICC had seamless working relation with them during those two events earlier this year,” adds the official.
In a November 10 statement, the ICC said, “The ICC Board met today and determined that Sri Lanka Cricket is in serious breach of its obligations as a Member, in particular, the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government interference in the governance, regulation and/or administration of cricket in Sri Lanka.”
READ MORE: Rohit Sharma Unlikely to be Involved in T20Is in Near Future – News18
The Board met in Ahmedabad again on November 21 after conclusion of the 2023 ODI World Cup and decided to shift the tournament to South Africa. The terms of SLC suspension were also discussed and it was decided that “Sri Lanka can continue to compete internationally both in bilateral cricket and ICC events after being suspended recently for breaching its obligations as a Member in particular the requirement to manage its affairs autonomously and without government interference.”
It was further decided that “funding to SLC will be controlled by the ICC”.
India’s U-19 World Cup preparations underway
India’s preparations for the U-19 World Cup are already underway and a core group has been shortlisted by the junior selection panel. The performers in the U-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy were divided into four teams for the U-19 One-Day Challenger Trophy which concluded on November 9.
The selectors then picked performers from that tournament and formed two teams which are currently competing in Quadrangular Under-19 Series also featuring England U-19 and Bangladesh U-19. The final match of the series will be played on November 27.
India A U-19 are unbeaten in the tournament with five wins and Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan’s younger brother, has been a key performer for them with crucial runs and 10 wickets under his belts. Rudra Mayur Patel of India B U-19 is leading the run-getters charts with 489 runs in 5 innings.
Comments
0 comment