ICC announces 15 years as the minimum age to become an international cricketer

The International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday said in a press release that 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 a 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"

Previously, age was no bar for players to represent their nation in international cricket. 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.

Sachin Tendulkar was the youngest player to have played international cricket for India, debuting against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of 16 years and 205 days. Sachin Tendulkar finished his career with 15,921 runs in Test matches and 18,426 runs in ODIs.

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.

Emerging talents who are bright prospects for their international cricket team

Shivam Mavi, Prithwi Shaw, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Shubhman Gill have been instrumental for their respective franchises in IPL so far

The U19 international tournaments and franchise tournaments like the IPL, BBL, CPL, and NatWest T20 Blast have been a good stage for young players to show their talents. Exciting prospects like Prithwi Shaw, Shubhman Gill, Tom Banton, Jaydon Seales, and Rachin Ravindra have come to the fore through their performances at domestic and league levels. Other notable names to have played with success in these leagues at a young age include Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Manish Pandey from IPL, and Steve Smith and Moises Henriques from the Australian Big Bash.