SAARC Twenty20 Cup Draw Held

Speaking at the ceremony President Mohamed Nasheed said that the SAARC Under 25 Cricket Tournament to be held in Fuvahmulah Maldives, would showcase the brightest young talents of South Asian cricket and commended the hard work of the Cricket Board of Maldives, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the SAARC Taskforce and other contributing parties to make the event a success.

 

Hosts Maldives was drawn together with Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Group A. Group B comprises of Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and Pakistan.

Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka has nominated their U25 teams for the tournament. Maldives will be represented by their U25 team as well.

Maldives Cricket revealed that a team from Karnataka Institute of Cricket has been invited by the Maldives Foreign Ministry to represent India. A board official told maldivescricket.org that the BCCI was unable to send an U25 team to the tournament due to other commitments. However, as it is a SAARC Summit sideline event, the Maldives government wanted all SAARC member states to be represented in the tournament in some capacity. Maldives Cricket also revealed that Bangladesh Cricket Board had a similar problem due to tour commitments by their national side and A team and the ongoing first class cricket. As such the Maldives government is trying to find a representative team from Bangladesh for the tournament.

 

Groups and tentative schedule

Group 2

(A) Maldives

(B) Bhutan

(C) Afghanistan

(D) Bangladesh

Group 2

(E) Sri Lanka

(F) Nepal

(G) India (KIC)

(H) Pakistan

Tentative Schedule

31 Oct Maldives vs Bhutan / Sri Lanka vs Nepal

1 Nov Afghanistan vs Bangladesh / India (KIC) vs Pakistan

2 Nov Sri Lanka vs India / Maldives vs Afghanistan

3 Nov Nepal vs Pakistan / Bhutan vs Bangladesh

4 Nov Maldives vs Bangladesh / Sri Lanka vs Pakistan

5 Nov Bhutan vs Afghanistan / Nepal vs India

6 Nov Group 1 winners vs Group 2 Runners-up / Group 2 winners vs Group 1 Runners-up