The national junior tournament was set to begin on Tuesday with three days of games across several sites. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has delayed the competition “due to unavoidable circumstances”.
The U-19 age group event got underway as planned, but the teams and officials were taken aback when they received word of the postponement following the first day of competition.
Hours after the news, the PCB issued a brief press release stating that “unavoidable circumstances” led to the decision.
Particularly considering that the board had invested millions of rupees in training the 18 regional teams, no thorough justification was provided for this sudden decision.
According to a board insider, the reason for the extended postponement was the volume of complaints chairman Mohsin Naqvi received concerning overage players, forged papers, and problems with squad selection.
Despite the fact that the board performs wrist bone X-rays and has strict guidelines for submitting paperwork for the U-19 championships, situations and accusations of misconduct regarding player selection and age authenticity arise each year.
“The junior tournament is considered the backbone for producing the right talent for first class cricket and international exposure by the board which is why despite a long process of selection, Mohsin Naqvi was disturbed when he received a number of complaints, some of which were authenticated to be correct,” the insider said.
In addition to supplying kits and daily allowances, the PCB had also invested in the establishment of training camps, meals, lodging, and transportation for all 18 teams.
