NCA wants BCCI to dump Under-25 tournaments

However, in the NCA’s opinion, the experiment hadn’t served its purpose and it was time for another change, this time recommending that the CK Nayudu Trophy become an under-23 affair.

It is learnt that a majority of the members on the NCA board were in favour of scrapping the under-25 formula during a meeting held in Chennai last week. One of the members present at the meeting said the earlier experiment wasn’t followed up to any extent, revealing that NCA hadn’t arranged a single camp for the under-25 boys. On the other hand, they have continued organising annual camps for the under-23 team.

Main purpose defeated

“The main problem which has been observed is that the whole purpose of the under-25 idea has not been utilised. The boys who have played India under-19 or those in their early 20s were struggling to find a place in the under-25 team. So it’s better to go back to the tried-and-tested formula or make the CK Nayudu tournament an under-23 competition,” a BCCI official said.

For the record, the Indian under-23 team clinched the Asia Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Trophy last year and the NCA feels the scope of finding talent gets enhanced if they revert to the old formula.

The matter will now be presented to the Anil Kumble-headed BCCI technical committee, which is expected to meet in the last week of July.