ACC Under-15 tourney set for a delayed start

Even as the many headed monster in the form of the match-fixing scandal is rearing its head from the remotest corners of the cricketing world, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is moving ahead with a plan to invest its resources in the developement of the game in new and greener pastures.

The ACC is all set to go ahead with an ambitious project - the ACC Under-15 tournament to be played at Kuala Lumpur from June 30. The tourney, which was originally slated to be held from June 8 to 18, has now been rescheduled and is to be played from June 30 to July 10. That gives the participating countries enough time to mobilise their teams.

The 11-day long competition will see hosts Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Thailand taking part. The other Asian cricketing nations namely Singapore, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Nepal and the United Arab Emirates would not be participating due to clash of dates with the school terms and since the International Cricket Council's Under-17 tournament is also scheduled to be held next month. As such, these countries would not be in a position to compete in both these tourneys.

The competing teams would be playing in a single round robin format with the top two in each group qualifying for the semi-finals and the top two playing the finals.

Meanwhile, the 14-member Indian team for the tourney was announced on June 3 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) joint secretary Jyoti Bajpai during the eight day long preparatory camp in Pune. The BCCI junior selection committee, headed by Rajinder Singh Goel and comprising Shashikant Khandekar, Subash Kangralkar, Mahendra Rajdev and Ashish Sinha have picked Subhash Dixit of Uttar Pradesh as the captain of the team and Assam all-rounder Mirgen Talukdar as his deputy.

The former Indian all rounder Roger Binny has been named the coach and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) joint secretary Ratnakar Shetty is the team's manager. The team is scheduled to leave for Malaysia on June 27 from Chennai, where the players are to assemble three days earlier for another camp.

The team: Subhash Dixit (capt), Mirgen Talukdar (vice-capt), Ambati Thirupathi Rayadu, Ashraf Ali, Swapnej Suhas Thakur, Palash Jyoti Das, Sushil Kumar, Nikhil Rathod, Rajesh Banik, Abhinav Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Panav Raju, Navin Chowdhary, Tushar Shah. Standbyes: Arvind Mann, Parthiv Patel, Shankar Saini, Srinivas Anup Pai, Gaurav Dhiman.