Seven young cricketers left heartbroken after BCCI’s massive blunder

Last month, the BCCI had announced the squad for the upcoming Youth Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, but seven of those players were dropped from the squad after the BCCI found out that they were ineligible for selection. The U-19 squad was scheduled to attend a preparatory camp in Bangalore on Friday. However, seven of the players were informed on Wednesday that they have been removed from the team.

In a major goof-up, the BCCI had assumed wrong date cut-off date set by the Asian Cricket Council for this tournament, which led to selection of ineligible players. These seven players, which includes opening batsman Sandeep Tomar (Uttar Pradesg), Digvijay Rangi (Himachal Pradesh), Daryl S Ferrario (Kerala), Rishabh Bhagat (Punjab), Simarjit Singh (Delhi), Izan Sayed (Maharashtra), and Chandan Sahini (Hyderabad), have been quickly replaced, but the BCCI did so without even releasing a statement.

"It was a major goof-up. Luckily, it came to our notice now. Things could have been worse if we would have come to know about this after the team had landed in Sri Lanka. The selectors were informed and they quickly replaced those seven names," a BCCI official was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

The players were left heartbroken after getting so close to donning the national jersey. Sandeep Tomar, who was one of those seven players said, "It was a matter of great joy but now I am feeling equally sad. My visa was done, and passport submitted. I was to go Bengaluru tomorrow and join the camp. My mother said, 'Don't worry, if you are lucky, you will get another chance in the future'. But I missed an India cap by just eight days.”

Rishabh, a medium pacer, also expressed similar feelings. He said, "I got a call from the BCCI... It has happened, now what can I say? I was so happy but now am heartbroken."