IPL 2022: Eight India U19 players not eligible to feature in mega auction

As many as eight players from India’s Under-19 World Cup 2022-winning squad won’t be featuring in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction. This is because they don’t meet the criteria set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Only those cricketers who have played at least one First-Class or List A game can register in the auction.

As per the norms, players without prior experience in domestic cricket should have turned 19 before the auction to be eligible. This norm will restrict several talented youngsters from participating in the 15th edition of the gala tournament. Dinesh Bana, India’s under-19 vice-captain, batter Shaik Rasheed, left-arm pacer Ravi Kumar, all-rounders Nishant Sindhu and Siddarth Yadav, opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manav Parakh and Garv Sangwan are the players who don’t meet the required criteria.

Several domestic competitions got cancelled since 2020

Notably, the likes of Rasheed, Bana, Kumar and Raghuvanshi were instrumental in taking India U19 to glory. BCCI is yet to take a final call on this matter. However, it has been learnt that some board officials reckon an exception can be made for this season, considering hardly any domestic cricket has been played in the last two years due to the pandemic.

“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,” BCCI administrator Ratnakar Shetty was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the mega auction is set to take place on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. As many as 590 players – 370 Indians and 220 overseas – are set to go under the hammer and would like to get substantial deals. Over the years, we have seen many U19 stars making a mark in the cash-rich league. The likes of Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw belong to this category.