In a major goof-up, a month after announcing a 15-member squad for the Youth Asia Cup to be held later this month in Sri Lanka, the BCCI has told seven of them that they are ineligible for selection and thus ending their hopes of donning India colours. The under-19 squad was scheduled to assemble in Bangalore for a preparatory camp, but just a day before, BCCI informed seven of the players that they don't meet the criteria needed to qualify for the selection.
As per a report, the BCCI committed the error after assuming that the date of birth for the cut-off year was 1997. However, the Asian Cricket Council had originally communicated that the year was 1-9-1998.
Consequently, selectors and joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary were misinformed and on the basis of that, ended up selecting ineligible players for the tournament that starts from December 13 in Colombo.
"It was a major goof-up. Luckily, it came to our notice now. Things could have been worse if we would have come to know about this after the team had landed in Sri Lanka. The selectors were informed and they quickly replaced those seven names," a BCCI official was quoted as saying.
After realizing their mistake, the board didn't bother to release a statement and instead swiftly named the replacements on its official website. The seven players who have been replaced include opening batsman Sandeep Tomar, (Uttar Pradesh), Digvijay Rangi (Himachal Pradesh), Daryl S Ferrario (Kerala), Rishabh Bhagat (Punjab), Simarjit Singh (Delhi) Izan Sayed (Maharashtra) and Chandan Sahini, (Hyderabad)
Wicketkeeper-batsman Sandeep Tomar had completed all the formalities including getting the visa and passport but is now sad at missing the India cap by just eight days. "It was a matter of great joy but now I am feeling equally sad. My visa was done, and passport submitted. I was to go Bengaluru to join the camp. My mother said, 'Don't worry, if you are lucky, you will get another chance in the future'. But I missed an India cap by just eight days," he said.
Rishabh, a medium pacer, was left heartbroken after BCCI informed him of the decision. "I got a call from the BCCI... It has happened, now what can I say? I was so happy but now am heartbroken," he said. Himanshu Rana, Salman Khan, Harvik Desai, Yash Thakur, Heramb Parab, Vivekanand Tiwary and Het Patel have been named as the replacements
