Miscommunication from the BCCI has resulted in the inclusion of seven over-age players in the 15-member Under-19 squad for the upcoming Youth Asia Cup. The error only came to light on Thursday, a day before the preparatory camp began in Bengaluru.
The official eligibility cut-off for players was 1/1/1998 as announced by the Asian Cricket Council. However, the BCCI mistakenly announced the cut-off year as 1997. Moreover, instead of making an official rectification, the BCCI only published the names of the substituted players on its website.
A BCCI insider, admitting the error, told Indian Express, “It was a major goof-up. Luckily, it came to our notice now. Things could have been worse if we would have come to know about this after the team had landed in Sri Lanka. The selectors were informed and they quickly replaced those seven names.”
For the affected players, who were ready to join the camp and who had also had their tickets, passport and visa all readied, it was a setback. Some of the players, whose eligibility was cancelled, it would have also been their first trip abroad.
The players who were substituted in the last minute were, Digvijay Rangi, Chandan Sahini, Daryl S. Ferrario, Sandeep Tomar (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Bhagat, Simarjit Singh and Izan Sayed. The players, who substituted them are Himanshu Rana, Salman Khan, Yash Thakur, Harvik Desai, Het Patel (wicket-keeper), Vivekanand Tiwary and Heramb Parab.