Coaches Seek Leeway For Players As BCCI Suspends Junior Events

The BCCI's decision to postpone age-group tournaments - possibly a suspension this year - due to Covid-19 has left young players in the lurch and unless the Indian cricket board gives leeway to yo

"It is a big loss. Say, for someone who is preparing for under-16 - assuming he was a standby for a couple of years and was hoping that there could be space since the team would be restructured after the old batch would get overage.

His chance would be gone and he wouldn't come into the system. The same thing with U-19 or U-23 - where for many players, it could be the last and only year and they would have wanted to play desperately," added Sharma while speaking to IANS.

He also felt that the Indian board should compensate, probably give some leeway like extending the age limit and making the tournaments under-20 instead of under-19 and under-17 instead of under-16.

"I think BCCI should compensate something to these kids. If they can extend the age limit or do something like that, these kids can get opportunities next year," he added.

Tarak Sinha, who has mentored multiple international cricketers and has been a coach for first-class teams, says some leeway like extending the age limit can be helpful although it may not help in the under-19 World Cup due to be held next year in the West Indies.

"It is a very big loss. Because there is the Junior World Cup next year, this would have been great preparation. Some players get selected, some do well. So they get a chance to go forward. This (age-group tournaments) is our base. If our base is not good, how do you expect to get players for the future?"

"Junior cricket should go on, come what may. If junior cricket doesn't happen, we suffer a massive loss since a generation loses," said Sinha, adding that the loss to under-19 cricketers will be bigger than to under-23 cricketers.

"The World Cup rules will remain the same (the under-19 limit wouldn't become under-20]. But for India's domestic age-group events, they can change. The Indian board has anyway changed it in the past. Earlier, they used to have under-15, they changed to U-16. There was U-17, they ended that," he said.

"I think one year's grace period can be given. The talent that existed in that group would get a chance to emerge."