U-19 tourney shifted from Dharmshala

The under-19 Cooch Behar tournament scheduled to be held at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh — which is reeling under intense cold wave...

The under-19 Cooch Behar tournament scheduled to be held at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh — which is reeling under intense cold wave — has been finally shifted. The BCCI working committee today decided to conduct the tournament in West Zone after The Indian Express pointed out at the unsuitable weather conditions for the players at the North Zone hill station.

The BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said that the tournament was being shifted ‘‘owing to climatic conditions’’ at the original venue. While board secretary SK Nair admitted that ‘‘the reports in The Indian Express did help the members to form an opinion on this matter.’’

The new dates are likely to be announced in a couple of days by joint-secretary Ratnakar Shetty, which were earlier slated to start on January 15. Nair said that a couple of state associations had put in ‘requests’ for a change in venue.

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This comes as a welcome change for the juniors preparing for the under-19 World Cup to be held later this year considering they had suffered the cold conditions last month at Patiala where the trials were held. The Indian Express had reported how none of the trial games could last the full quota of overs due to the weather conditions.

The working committee discussed South Zone as the probable venue but since it would be hosting the under-17 Asia Cup, West got the nod.

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