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Future stars will get a chance to show their talent, potential and prowess in a truly global event when the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014 gets underway across the United Arab Emirates on Friday 14 February.
The tournament has provided impetus to the careers of stalwarts like Michael Atherton, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Nasser Hussain, Brian Lara, Sanath Jayasuriya and Graeme Smith as well as current stars like Ahmed Shahzad, Alastair Cook, Quinton de Kock, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Angelo Mathews, Shakib Al Hasan, Steven Smith and Ross Taylor among others. It is one of the most important and followed cricketing events in which teenagers get a taste of international experience, pressure and exposure, and also receive training and education on anti-doping and anti-corruption.
This year’s ICC U19 CWC carries extra significance as it is taking place a year before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. As such, a lot of cricketers will be looking to excel in this tournament so that they can catch the eye of their national selectors and earn the honour of representing their countries in cricket’s biggest extravaganza which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 1 March next year.
The 16 teams in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014 have been divided equally in four groups, which are:
The four groups are:
Group A Group B Group C Group D
India Australia South Africa New Zealand
Pakistan Bangladesh West Indies England
Scotland Afghanistan Zimbabwe Sri Lanka
PNG Namibia Canada UAE
The top two teams from each group will progress to the Super League quarter-finals, while the two bottom teams from each group qualify for the Plate Championship quarter-finals.
On the opening day, four matches will be played with 1998 champion England taking on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Zimbabwe facing Canada at Abu Dhabi Oval 1, New Zealand squaring off against Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, and South Africa and the West Indies going head to head at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in a match that will be covered live by ICC’s broadcast partner Star Sports. This will be one of the 11 matches, including two quarter-finals, both the semi-finals and the final will be televised.
India will seek to defend the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup title in a 16-day tournament in which 48 matches will be played. India, which is also the holder of the ICC Cricket World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy, has also previously won the crown under Mohammad Kaif in 2000 and Kohli in 2008, but unlike Pakistan, its opponent in Saturday’s match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, it has never won back-to-back titles.
