The ICC on Wednesday announced the schedule for the 2022 U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies. The competition will consist of 14 countries, 48 fixtures and will be hosted by the Caribbean nation for the first-time in the tournament's history. The 2022 ICC U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup is scheduled to begin from January 14 and will end on February 5. In a statement, ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley said, "The ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup is such an exciting and special tournament, bringing together the future stars of the game and giving them an unrivalled experience of competing on the global stage".
"We are looking forward to the 2022 edition to see who emerges as the future stars", he said.
"We are delighted that the West Indies will be hosting this event and we wish all the teams the very best in their preparations for the tournament and to Cricket West Indies in organising the event", he further added.
Ten venues will be used for the tournament according to ICC's release and will be held in four Caribbean countries; Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago.
It is also worth noting that Scotland has replaced New Zealand in the tournament. The Blackcaps can't participate due to mandatory quarantine restrictions for minors in their country, which they would have faced on their return journey from the tournament.
Also there will be four groups in the tournament. Defending champions Bangladesh are slotted in at Group A alongside England, Canada and UAE. India are in Group B with South Africa, Ireland and Uganda.
Pakistan are in Group C and are placed with Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. Meanwhile, hosts West Indies are in Group D with Australia, Sri Lanka and Scotland.