New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) The BCCI has decided to postpone the National U-16 boys tournament for the Vijay Merchant Trophy for the second year in a row owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has written to all the state bodies that since U-16 players are not vaccinated, the Board has decided not to take risk as there is a high possibility of a surge in the number of positive cases in the coming days.

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"After consulting experts and seeking views of the medical team and operations team, it has been decided that keeping health and safety in mind, the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy is postponed for the season," Shah wrote in the letter.

"The primary reason being participants are still not vaccinated and as such are vulnerable. We should exercise caution and not be adventurous and put lives of our talented cricketers at grave risk," Shah further wrote.

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)