India avoid Under-19 Asia Cup disaster, but not heartbreak

NEW DELHI: Oversight of an important email from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) left India on the verge of embarrassment in the lead-up to the Under-19 Asia Cup. The cost of the error is not insignificant: it has broken the hearts of seven young cricketers born between November 1997 and November 1998.

On November 3, the BCCI announced through a media release a fresh batch of Under-19 cricketers who were to take part in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in mid-December. On December 2, a day before the conditioning camp began in Bangalore, the Indian Express reported that the selectors had made seven changes to the original squad because of the last-minute discovery of the ACC email.

It turned out that the selectors picked the original team based on BCCI tournament norms: anyone who is under 19 can play Under-19 tournaments. The ACC, though, had clearly communicated its eligibility norms to the BCCI: only those who qualify for the next Under-19 World Cup, to be held in New Zealand in early 2018, were eligible for the Asia Cup. This communication was noticed because of a recent reshuffle of duties within the BCCI. Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI general manager - game development, who is now looking after Under-19 operations, spotted the email and arranged a fresh selection-committee meeting.

The selectors were caught off guard themselves. “The board didn’t communicate to us the eligibility norm,” Venkatesh Prasad, the chairman of the junior selection committee, told ESPNcricinfo. Even Amitabh Choudhury, a BCCI joint secretary and convenor of the junior selection committee, didn’t know of the eligibility criteria.

The selectors met again last week to pick seven new players. In one blow they had lost three quicks. Of the 39 players that played in the Under-19 Challenger Trophy, 22 were born before November 1998, and were thus ineligible to play the Asia Cup.