Railways likely to scrap its Under-19 team

The upcoming under-19 tournaments in the Indian domestic circuit will be bereft of any Railways junior team. Because they cannot field a competitive outfit in the under-19 age group, the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) has decided to scrap its under-19 team.

It is a general consensus among the Railway authorities that only the children of the officers play for their under-19 team and they aren’t very serious about pursuing cricket as a career. Thus the level of competitiveness dipped and it was no longer a big deal for a player to represent the Railways U19 team. And they have over the years failed to find a talented youngster with the potential to make a greater mark in the game.

Source of the problem

A Railway official was quoted by the Indian Express saying, “Why should there be easy access in this competitive sport?” A source in Railways has conceded that the problem lies in the fact that they do not have a base, unlike the state associations. They do not conduct any tournaments and only hold trials to select players. As a result, they have failed to find any talented youngster so far.

“The big problem is Railways don’t have any base. Like how the state associations conduct their own tournaments and then pick the squad for the under-19 team. Here we only have trials and in these there mostly players of Railways officers are included.”

“On paper, we have so many employees but we have not found a good talented boy at the under-19 level. Those who are good, play for state teams. Why should there be easy access in this competitive sport? We are mulling scrapping the team itself and concentrate on under-23 and the Ranji team,” the source further added.

Railways have sent under-19 teams in the annual U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy and U-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy. However, their teams are yet to win any big tournament. Last time, Bengal colts won the Cooch Behar trophy after beating Delhi in the final.