Mhatre to captain India in U19 World Cup; Sooryavanshi named captain for SA tour

New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS) Ayush Mhatre has been named as India’s captain for the upcoming Men’s Under-19 World Cup, to be held in Zimbabwe and Namibia from January 15 to February 6.

But Mhatre and Vihaan Malhotra, also named in the U19 World Cup squad, will not be a part of the pre-tournament 50-over tour of South Africa, to take place from January 3-7, after sustaining wrist injuries.

In Mhatre’s absence, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will lead the side on the tour of South Africa, where they will play all of their three matches at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, while Yuvraj Gohil and Rahul Kumar are added to the squad selected by the Junior Men’s Selection Committee.

IANS understands that both Mhatre and Malhotra were in Mumbai on Friday for further assessments of their wrist injuries, and their status so far remains unclear.

“The duo will report to the BCCI Centre of Excellence for further management of their injuries and will join the team for the ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup,” said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a statement on Saturday.

Fast bowling all-rounder RS Ambrish and leg-spin bowling all-rounder Mohamed Enaan also return to the India U19 team in place of Gohil and Naman Pushpak. The 2026 ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup will feature 16 teams split into four groups, and is followed by a Super Six stage, semi-finals, and the final in Harare.

Five-time champions India, who won the trophy in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2018, and 2022, have been drawn in Group A alongside New Zealand, the USA, and Bangladesh. India will open their campaign against the USA on January 15 at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, before facing Bangladesh and New Zealand on January 17 and 24 at the same venue.

India squad for ICC Men’s U19 World Cup 2026: Ayush Mhatre (C), Vihaan Malhotra (VC), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Aaron George, 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, and Udhav Mohan.

India’s squad for SA tour: 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

--IANS

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