The International Cricket Council (ICC), on September 22, 2023, unveiled the schedule for the U19 World Cup in 2024 which will be played in Sri Lanka. The tournament is set to take place in Sri Lanka from 13 January to 4 February. The warm-up games are slated to take place from 6 to 12 January.
It will be the third time Sri Lanka is hosting the tournament and the first time since 2006. The hosts will open the tournament with a clash against Zimbabwe on 13 January. A total of 16 teams will participate in the 15th edition of the competition, with some notable tweaks in the format.
The defending world champions India will open their tournament campaign against Bangladesh on January 14 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo.
The tournament will be played in a slightly tweaked format. The 16 teams have been divided into four groups, each consisting of four teams, but the top three teams from each group will now progress to the Super Six stage.
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Group stage matches will take place from 13 to 21 January. Additionally, the fourth-placed teams in each group will compete in one more match against another fourth-placed team before concluding their tournament.
After the completion of the group stage, 12 teams will progress to the next phase, which is called the Super Six.
In this format, two groups of six teams will be created, with the top three teams from Groups A and D forming one group, and the top three teams from Groups B and C forming the other.
During the Super Six stage, each team will have two matches to play. They will face teams from the other group based on their positions in the initial group stage. For instance, the top team in Group A (A1) will play against the second and third teams in Group D (D2 and D3). A2 will play against D1 and D3, and so forth.
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The two teams from each of the two Super Six groups will enter the semi-finals, with the winners of this knockout round, moving into the finals. The summit clash will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on, Sunday, 4 February.
Participating Teams:
Through automatic qualification: Sri Lanka (hosts), Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe
Through regional qualification: Namibia (Africa Regional Qualifier), Nepal, New Zealand (EAP Regional Qualifier), Scotland (Europe Regional Qualifier), USA (Americas Regional Qualifier).
Groups:
Group A- India, Bangladesh, Ireland, USA
Groups B- England, South Africa, West Indies, Scotland
Group C- Australia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Namibia
Group D- Afghanistan, Pakistan, New Zealand, Nepal.
Here is the schedule for the U19 World Cup 2024:
(ICC inputs)
