COLOMBO, JANUARY 10: Sixteen countries are in fray for the Youth (under-19) World Cup Cricket Championship which gets under way in various centres here on Tuesday.Hosts Sri Lanka, aiming to emulate their seniors who claimed a suprise World Cup in 1996, will take on Ireland and Australia, coached by legendary wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh, will play another newcomer Namibia in opening matches on Tuesday while England meet Americas and Zimbabwe take on the West Indies, trained by former batsman Gus Logie.The Indian team, captained by talented Uttar Pradesh batsman Mohammed Kaif, will begin their campaign at Moratuwa, near here, on Wednesday with a clash against Bangladesh. India are in a relatively easy group with New Zealand and Holland.The talented Indians, who also boast of all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi, look certain to qualify from the preliminary stage.Indian coach Roger Binny said the team is a careful mix of specialists and all-rounders.``This is a better team than the one that played in the last World Cup in South Africa,'' said skipper Kaif.The Super League matches are scheduled to begin on January 18 with the semis slated for January 24 and 25 and the final to come off at the picturesque Singhalese Sports Club ground on January 28.Besides teams from the nine Test playing countries, Ireland, Namibia, Americas, Holland, Bangladesh, Nepal and Kenya will take part in this tournament aimed at globalising the game.
