India holds a prestigious record at the U19 World Cup, with as many as four championships under their belt. The defending champions are also favourites to clinch the ongoing tournament, as they entered their seventh final.
The Men in Blue have produced an array of future stars in this breeding ground, namely, the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Yuvraj Singh. Also, India already hosted three ODI world Cup and is scheduled to host the next in 2023. Further, the country hosted the 2016 T20 World Cup and is due to host the upcoming 2021 World Cup.
However, the richest cricketing board is reluctant to host any of the U19 World Cup and has not volunteered for hosting any subsequent edition of the biennial tournament. Tentatively, the monetary aspect of the tournament is primarily the reason for the country not hosting any of the World Cups since its inception.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) bears the operational costs as well as holds the television rights for the tournament. With the absence of advertisement revenues in the stadium, the tournament is not financially luring.
The former treasurer of the BCCI pushed the ball in ICC court’s saying, “This question should be directed to the ICC. It depends on them how they wish to host and promote the U-19 World Cup,” Anirudh Chaudhry stated, according to Indian Express.
“I don’t think lack of profitability is a reason behind India not hosting it. The BCCI has been spending crores on domestic cricket, which is a non-profitable venture. The U-19 World Cup not being held in India is more of an ICC matter than the BCCI being reluctant.”
It is the Executive Board of ICC that looks after the allocation of venues for the World Cups. Prima facie, the BCCI did not volunteer to host the event during the 2015-2023 cycle, which was announced back in 2014. Former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah remained optimistic about India’s chances to host the multilateral event in the future.
“I don’t think we have anything against the U-19 World Cup. Lack of revenue is not the reason. It’s just that it is still to come to India. It has been good for our boys that they have won it in conditions they don’t encounter at home. It helps in their development. And taking it to places like Malaysia and UAE helps the promotion of the game,” said Niranjan Shah.
