India have announced squads for the 2026 U19 World Cup and the preceding tour of South Africa.
Ayush Mhatre to lead India at U19 World Cup
CSK opener Ayush Mhatre has been named India's captain for the U19 World Cup, which starts on January 15 in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Mhatre has been leading the India Under-19s for a while now, and was the front-runner to take up the role. Vihaan Malhotra will serve as his deputy.
India recently finished as runners-up at the U19 Asia Cup, losing to Pakistan in the final. They have made two changes to that suqad, with RS Ambrish and Mohamed Enaan replacing Yuvraj Gohil and Naman Pushpak.
Also read: Five U19 Asia Cup star performers to watch out for at the U19 World Cup
India are placed in Group B at the U19 World Cup, alongside Bangladesh, New Zealand, and the USA.
India's squad for 2026 Men's U19 World Cup
Ayush Mhatre (c), R.S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, D. Deepesh, Mohamed Enaan, Aaron George, Abhigyan Kundu, Kishan Kumar Singh, Vihaan Malhotra, Udhav Mohan, Henil Patel, Khilan A. Patel, Harvansh Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vedant Trivedi.
Full list of India's captains at Under-19 World Cups
Amit Pagnis - 1998
Mohammad Kaif - 2000
Parthiv Patel - 2002
Dinesh Karthik - 2004
Ravikant Shukla - 2006
Virat Kohli - 2008
Ashok Menaria - 2010
Unmukt Chand - 2012
Vijay Zol - 2014
Ishan Kishan - 2016
Prithvi Shaw - 2018
priyam Garg - 2020
Yash Dhull - 2022
Uday Saharan - 2024
Vaibhav Suryavanshi named captain for South Africa series
Before the World Cup, India are set to play a three-match Youth ODI series in South Africa, serving as preparation for the marquee event. Fourteen-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi will lead the side in these games, as Mhatre and Malhotra are both recovering from injuries which will require them to remain at the BCCI Centre of Excellence beore the World Cup.
Suryavanshi has had an unprecedented rise to stardom in the last one year, following his record-breaking IPL century. Most recently, he smashed AB de Villiers' record for the fastest 150 in List A cricket. India would expect that the South Africa series primes him up for the World Cup nicely.
Also read: India ready, already? Where Vaibhav Suryavanshi goes next
India's squad for South Africa Youth ODI series
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (C), Aaron George (VC), Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Harvansh Singh (wk), R.S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan A. Patel, Mohamed Enaan, Henil Patel, D. Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan, Yuvraj Gohil, Rahul Kumar.
