Don’t go to IPL trials: BCCI’s message to Under-19 cricketers

“No player will attend any tournament, practice match, or Any Trials except Vijay Hajare (Hazare) tournament,” was the directive from India under-19 team manager Manuj Sharma few days ago, reported The Indian Express.

With many IPL teams conducting trials for the upcoming season, the BCCI sent the directive to the players keeping in mind the U-19 World Cup, which is scheduled to start on January 27 in Bangladesh.

“Players are just advised to have a light session at the nets and try to avoid any competitive game. We don’t want any of these selected players to get injured while playing a league cricket. We have even advised them not to go for any IPL trials as it can be a distraction. At the same time, there can be risk of getting injured,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express.

The U-19 camp for the tournament will start on January 3 in Bengaluru under the watchful eyes of coach Rahul Dravid. India is going to the World cup on the back of series wins in the home tri-series against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and also the tri-nation tournament involving Sri Lanka and England, which took place in the Island nation.

Squad for World Cup : Ishan Kishan (capt), Rishabh Pant (vice-capt), Washington Sundar, Sarfaraz Khan, Amandeep Khare, Anmolpreet Singh, Armaan Jaffer, Ricky Bhui, Mayank Dagar, Zeeshan Ansari, Mahipal Lomror, Avesh Khan, Shubham Mavi, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Batham