Mumbai, Jan 09: Former India seamer Venkatesh Prasad has been named the coach of the Indian team for the upcoming Under-17 Asia Cup cricket tournament. A record 21 teams are in fray in the event to be held at different venues in South India from January 19 to 27.

The Indian team would be led by A G Pradeep of Andhra while former Test cricketer Sudhakar Rao would be the manager, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, Joint Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, told here today.

The tournament would be played on a double-league cum knock-out format. Seventeen teams -- including Malaysia, Afghanistan, Iran and Hong Kong -- will fight it out in the first stage where they would be split into groups of four.

The winner from each group will advance to the second league stage where they will be joined by hosts India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The top two teams of Groups 1 and 2 will play the semifinals.

Group A: Malaysia, Nepal and Qatar (venue --Visakhapatnam).

Group B: UAE, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Oman (Hyderabad).

Group C: Singapore, Iran, Thailand and Bahrain (Bangalore).

Group D: Hong Kong, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia and Maldives (Chennai).

Bureau Report