Published 11:02 IST, October 25th 2019

ICC announces schedule for U19 World Cup 2020 in South Africa

ICC announced the Under-19 World Cup schedule on Thursday which will be played in South Africa. India are the world champions and will look to defend the title.

SportFit
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the Under-19 World Cup Schedule on Thursday which will be played in South Africa. India who are the defending champions have been placed in Group 'A' alongside Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Japan who are making their debut in the competition.

India will take on Sri Lanka in their first game of the tournament at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on January 19. While hosts South Africa will face Afghanistan in the tournament opener at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on January 17. The tournament will be played between January 17 and February 9 across eight venues in Benoni, Potchefstroom, Bloemfontein, and Kimberley. The warm-up matches will be played between January 12 & January 15.

The tournament features top 11 full members from the previous edition in New Zealand and the five regional champions Nigeria (Africa), UAE (Asia), Japan (East Asia Pacific), Canada (Americas) and Scotland (Europe) who have earned qualification by beating their regional opponents.

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Some of the greats of the game such as Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Jane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja among others were first noticed during the U-19 World Cup. Brian Lara, Michael Clarke, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and Rashid Khan are other notable players who rose through the ranks with this tournament.

Looking at the way the South African team has been performing at the international level in recent times, the hosts will be keenly looking out for new talent in order to groom them. The U-19 World Cup has given South Africa players like Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Wayne Parnell, Quinton de Kock, and Kagiso Rabada in the past, who went on to represent South Africa at the top level.