Four Zimbabwe U19 players test COVID-19 positive ahead of U19 World Cup

Zimbabwe Cricket has confirmed that four of its players who will be taking part in the upcoming Under 19 World Cup have tested positive for Covid-19. All of these players are asymptomatic and are isolating in the West Indies before they can join the team.

Zimbabwe are scheduled to play two official warm-up matches before the tournament starts. They will face Canada and Bangladesh on January 9 and 11 respectively in St Kitts and Nevis. The tournament for Zimbabwe will start on January 16 as the team will face Afghanistan. The team is placed in Group C along with Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Zimbabwe also played a four-match warm-up series against Ireland U19 team in Barbados last week and won the series by a 3-1 margin, ESPNcricinfo reported. Ireland lost the first three-match before bouncing back in the fourth and the final game of the series.

The upcoming Under-19 World Cup will see the top two teams from the four groups advance to the Super League where these eight teams will play the quarter-final, the playoff semi-final, the semi-final, and the final. The remaining eight teams from the four groups will feature in the plate competition.

India Under-19 team to start their campaign on January 15

The India Under-19 team is placed in Group B along with South Africa, Ireland, and Uganda. India will play their first match against South Africa on January 15 followed by matches against Ireland on January 19 and Uganda on January 22.

The match against South Africa will take place at the Providence Stadium, Guyana and the next two matches will be played at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad. India walk into this tournament after winning the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup 2021, beating Sri Lanka Under-19 by nine wickets in the final.

India have qualified for the final of the last three editions of the World Cup and have won once. The final of the last edition was played between Bangladesh and India. India made 177 runs while batting first and Bangladesh chased down the target in 42.1 overs with three wickets in their hands.

Yashasvi Jaiswal won the Player of the Tournament award for scoring 400 runs in six matches at an average of 133.33 and was the leading run-scorer in the mega event as well.