Red Bull Campus Cricket from tomorrow

The fifth edition of Red Bull Campus Cricket World Championship for college cricketers will take place from September 5 to 11 at the SSC and NCC grounds .

College teams from eight countries - Sri Lanka, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan, South Africa and United Arab Emirates have qualified through their own national competitions, with Assupol Tuks Cricket (University of Pretoria) aiming for the hat-trick after winning the last two World Finals in 2014 and 2015. England's Loughborough University will be looking for revenge after losing in the final last year and MMCC College, Pune will hope they can emulate India's victory in 2013, the last time the World Finals were held in Sri Lanka. All of them will have to beware the team representing the hosts, Business Management School (BMS) - Colombo with three Sri Lankan internationals - Shehan Jayasuriya, Niroshan Dickwella and Dasun Shanaka in their side.

"We're very excited to be hosting Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals again in Sri Lanka after the inaugural Asia cup in 2012 and World Finals in 2013," Brendon Kuruppu, the tournament director and former Sri Lanka cricketer said. "It's the world championship of college cricket and a unique opportunity for some of the best young cricketers from around the world to showcase their talents. In Sri Lanka it has become one of the most important tournaments for our young cricketers and we are proud to see so many Sri Lankan players representing their colleges in the national finals last week.

Three of them, Shehan Jayasuriya, Niroshan Dickwella and Dasun Shanaka are part of the BMS - Colombo, side that will represent Sri Lanka in the World Finals. Shehan Jayasuriya with an aggregate 294 at an average of 147 with 3 wickets to his credit will be the main attraction of the World Finals 2016. Players from India, Pakistan and South Africa have also gone on from Campus Cricket to play professionally and for their country. KL Rahul being a shining example for India who played against West Indies recently. Every year it gets tougher to win and 2016 promises to be the toughest to date." The eight teams will be divided into two groups during the draw on September 4. The group stages will worked off in Colombo from September 5 to 7 at the Sinhalese Sports Club and at the adjacent Nondescripts Cricket Club. The semi-finals and the final will be played at the Galle International Stadium on September 10 and 11 respectively.

The competition this year will introduce a new 'Energiser Over' where the batting side can tactically nominated at any point after the Powerplay overs. Any wickets taken during that over will cost the batting side 5 penalties.

The teams competing in the 2016 World Finals:

Sri Lanka: Business Management School (BMS) - Colombo, Australia: University of Sydney,

Bangladesh: University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), England: Loughborough University,

India: MarathwadaMitra Mandal College of Commerce (MMCC College) - Pune, Pakistan: University Of Central Punjab, Lahore, South Africa: Assupol Tuks Cricket, University of Pretoria, UAE: Heriot Watt University

- Dubai