Eight countries battle for RBCC title
Last year’s champion Business Management School of Sri Lanka will be seeking to make a repeat
The stage is set for the Red Bull Campus Cricket (RBCC) World Cup which is scheduled to get underway in Sri Lanka for the second time where eight of the best college teams will be in action to battle for supremacy from today onwards which is slotted to end on September 16.
The eight teams have made their way to contest at the RBCC World Cup which is the fifth in the series which began in 2012 after having undergone strenuous competition and won their respective qualifying tournaments played in their own country.
The Red Bull Cricket Campus was initiated with the aim of providing a platform for young talented player to the world stage to make their way into professional cricket without having to give up college education, so now it has become popular and a much looked forward to event.
Not to mention the tournament has been a turning point for some cricketers who are looking to hone their skills and it has been a stepping stone for some of them to represent their national team.
The previous editions of the RBCC World Cup saw top class players being produced in the likes of K.L. Rahul of India, Niroshan Dickwella and Dasun Shanaka from Sri Lanka — with all three of them representing their respective countries in the just concluded Sri Lanka vs India Test, ODI series and T20 encounters.
Tournament director and former Sri Lanka cricketer Brendon Kuruppu said that “There’s nothing quite like a high-intensity tournament to test and bring out the hidden talent of developing cricketers, and that’s exactly what the Campus Cricket World Final is about.
He added “You learn and improve from playing against the best. This tournament is a wonderful opportunity for players to pick each other’s brains and share their own knowledge on the game, while also showing the world what they’ve got.”
Last year’s world champions, Sri Lanka’s Business Management School who defeated University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (UOLA) by 24 runs in the final played at the Galle International Stadium, will have the opportunity to win successive titles a feat only previously achieved by Assupol Tuks Cricket (University of Pretoria) of South Africa and the familiarity with conditions, and home support.
The group stages will be played from September 10-12 in Colombo before the action moves to Galle International Stadium for the semi-finals and final.
The teams competing in the 2017 World Finals:
Sri Lanka: Business Management School (BMS) Australia: University of Sydney Bangladesh: University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) Zimbabwe: National University of Science and Technology (NUST) India: Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Commerce (MMCC College), Pune Pakistan: Jinnah Government College Nazimabad, Karachi, South Africa: North-West University (NWU) and UAE: Herriot Watt-University, Dubai.