The International Cricket Council has said the 2016 U19 World Cup in Bangladesh will receive unprecedented broadcast coverage as it seeks to enhance the national team tournament’s position in the sport’s marketplace.
The U19 World Cup will be held across eight venues in four Bangladesh cities from January 27 to February 14.
Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka and Sylhet will share 48 matches between them during the 19-day tournament, which will open with the match between defending champion South Africa and host Bangladesh at Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
For the first time in the history of this competition, ICC will produce live broadcast coverage of 20 matches. The matches to be shown around the world by ICC broadcast partner, pan-Asian pay-television broadcaster Star Sports, and its licensees include four from Chittagong, nine from Mirpur and seven from Fatullah.
In the 2014 event in the UAE, Star Sports and its licensees broadcast 11 matches, while 10 matches each were televised from the 2008, 2010 and 2012 events in Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia respectively.
The ICC said in a statement: “This increased broadcast coverage is a clear reflection in the enhanced profile of the event, which is billed as the platform for future stars.”