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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on December 30 (Thursday) postponed the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, which was slated to begin in January 2022, due to the recent increase in the Covid-19 cases in India and also because of the growing threat of the new Omicron variant.
The tournament was slated to be played between January 9 to January 21, in four venues across Agartala and Guwahati.
In a letter to the affiliated units of BCCI, the Indian cricket board’s secretary Jay Shah said that the domestic cricket had started off nicely, with the completion of 748 matches till date, however, the sudden spike in cases forced the board to postpone its junior tournament.
Official statement
“We have been closely monitoring the situation in India and across the world, and it is estimated that the caseload will shoot up in the immediate future if the situation is not controlled now," Shah wrote in the letter.
“After consulting experts and seeking views of the medical teams and operations team, it has been decided that keeping health and safety in mind, the U16 Vijay Merchant Trophy is postponed for this season," he added.
Shah also went on to talk about the primary reason for the postponement being the vaccination status of participants as most of them are still not vaccinated and are vulnerable. The BCCI does not want to take any risks with its junior cricketers.
“We must exercise caution and not be adventurous and put the health of our talented cricketers at grave risk," he mentioned.
The BCCI announced in July that it was confident that all tournaments, including those for various age groups and women, will be played this season.
“Ahead of the domestic season, we had said that we will endeavour to have a full season across age groups," he wrote further.
“We started off well and are now mid-way into the season having completed 748 matches when we have again encountered a serious issue. The cases across India are spiralling and despite being a large number of adults doubly vaccinated, they have still been infected," he added.
I-League postponed also
The recent increase in cases recently forced the I-League (Indian football league) to be postponed as well after Covid-19 breached its bio-bubble as eight players and three officials were tested positive for the virus.
