U19WC: 8 players to be barred from IPL auction

Because they do not match the Indian cricket board's criteria, eight players from India's U-19 World Cup-winning side will have to wait a little longer to be included in the Indian Premier League auction pool. Only U-19 players who have competed in at least one first-class match or List A game are eligible to participate in the auction. They must have turned 19 before the auction to be eligible if they have no domestic cricket experience.

The regulation will affect wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana, India's under-19 vice-captain, batsman Shaik Rasheed, left-arm pacer Ravi Kumar, all-rounders Nishant Sindhu, and Siddarth Yadav, opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manav Parakh, and Garv Sangwan, as well as all-rounders Nishant Sindhu and Siddarth Yadav. Rasheed, Bana, Kumar, and Sindhu all contributed significantly to India's Caribbean victory.

The BCCI has yet to make a final decision on the topic, but many members believe an exception can be made, especially since domestic cricket has been almost non-existent for the past two years due to the pandemic.

Pack of 8 at U-19 World Cup

Angkrish Raghuvanshi (batsman)

Matches 6, Runs 278, Average 46.33, Strike Rate 89.39, Highest Score 144

Shaik Rasheed (batsman)

Matches 4, Runs 201, Average 50.25, Strike Rate 65.90, Highest Score 94

Nishant Sindhu (all-rounder)

Matches 5, Runs 140, Average 46.66, Strike Rate 93.33, Highest Score 50*, Wickets 6, Economy 3.09

Dinesh Bana (wicketkeeper-batsman)

Matches 6, Runs 63, Average 31.50, Strike Rate 190.90, Highest Score 22, Catches 9, Stumpings 2

Ravi Kumar (seamer)

Matches 6, Wickets 10, Economy 3.66

Garv Sangwan (seamer)

Matches 1, Wickets 2, Economy 4.60

Siddarth Yadav (all-rounder)

Matches 1, Runs 6, Average 6.00, Strike Rate 66.66

The Ranji Trophy, India's premier domestic first-class event, begins on February 17, which means they will be ineligible for the IPL auction on February 12 and 13, even if their state associations include them in their Ranji squads.

The 590 cricketers in the IPL 2022 Player Auction pool are set to go under the hammer during the two-day event in Bengaluru. There are 228 capped players, 355 uncapped players, and seven players from Associate Nations among the players that have registered for the auction.

Ratnakar Shetty, an experienced BCCI administrator, stated.“It’s unfortunate that these boys weren’t able to play List-A tournaments as U-19 and List A games were played simultaneously. One season, there was no cricket at all due to the pandemic. I feel the BCCI should consider this as a special case and the players should not lose out because of this (stipulation). The team has done really well and they should not be deprived of the opportunity.”

The BCCI's U-19 tournament, Challengers Series, and Asia Cup were held at the same time as men's domestic cricket. Even if a few associations wanted to add their younger players to the senior team, they couldn't because they had all been on national duty for the previous few months before heading to the West Indies for the under-19 World Cup.

Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, congratulated the team and stated that there are plans in place to help them progress.

“India is the most successful side in the history of U-19 World Cups and the fifth title is testament to the robust system and structure we have in place for our age-group cricketers. The Board takes age-group cricket very seriously and works closely to ensure we remain fluid with our approach to suit the demands of the team amidst the pandemic.”

The board must now decide whether to allow all of the players from the triumphant squad to participate in the forthcoming IPL auction.

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