The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has come up with a new rule for the young cricketers in the Under-16 and Under-19 categories. As per the latest developments by the Indian cricket board,
the U-16 and U-19 players need to play at least one First-Class game to be eligible for the selection in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
As mentioned in InsideSport, the decision was taken in the 94th Annual General Meeting, held on Sunday, September 28. Earlier, there were no age restrictions in the IPLbut now the BCCI has made it mandatory for the U-16 and U-19 players to play at least one First-Class match to get eligible for the selection in the cash-rich league. Over the years, there have been several young players who went on to play in the IPL. In the latest edition in 2025, Vaibhav Suryavanshi got to make his debut for Rajasthan Royals at the age of 14 years, making him the youngest player to play in the IPL.
19th edition of IPL set to be played in 2026
Along with Vaibhav Suryavanshi, there were several young players like Ayush Mhatre, Andre Siddharth, Musheer Khan, Swasatik Chikara and others were selected by different franchises in IPL 2025. Now, the other new players who come in the U-16 and U-19 are required to play at least one First-Class game to be eligible for the IPL selection as per the new rule by the BCCI.
This new rule will be implemented ahead of the next edition in 2026. This will be the 19th edition of the tournament which is likely to be played from March end to May end like every year. Before that, the mini-auction for IPL 2026 is set to take place in December 2025.
