The International Cricket Council (ICC) has brought out a new set of rules for international cricket yesterday. The council announced in a press release that only players who are aged 15 years and above are eligible to participate in international cricket- men’s and women’s cricket and Under-19 engagements- for the respective international sides.
The ICC, in an official statement, said, “The board has confirmed the introduction of minimum age restrictions for international cricket to improve safeguarding of players which will apply across all cricket inclusive of the ICC events, bilateral series, and U19 cricket. To play any form of cricket- men’s, women’s, and Under19 international cricket, players must be minimum of 15 years of age”
No such rule existed before this and any player with any age could represent their country. The youngest player to have played international cricket was Pakistan’s Hasan Raza who made his Test debut at the age of 14 years and 227 days. He went on to play international cricket till 2005 and represented Pakistan in 7 Tests and 16 ODIs.
For India, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, holds the record of being the youngest international cricketer. He made his debut in 1989 at the age of 16 years and 205 days. Just one of the many other records that he holds. Of course, as we all know Sachin went on to become the greatest of the greats that cricket has ever seen. In a career that lasted for more than 24 years, he went on to score more than 30000 runs and owns almost every batting record there is to own.
Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful holds the record for being the youngest player to have scored an international ton. He was 17 years and 61 days when he achieved this feat against Sri Lanka when he scored 114 runs.
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