Ayush Mhatre will captain India at the 2026 ICC Under-19 World Cup, to be staged in Zimbabwe and Namibia from 15 January. In the short term, opening batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi takes the reins for a three-match youth-ODI series in South Africa, starting 3 January in Benoni.
The selectors named a 15-strong touring party and a largely-similar World Cup squad on Friday. Two notable absentees for South Africa are Mhatre and vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra; both are nursing wrist niggles and will continue rehab at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Medical staff expect them to link-up with the World Cup squad early in the New Year.
Suryavanshi’s recent form made the interim appointment straightforward. He piled up 261 runs at the Under-19 Asia Cup in Dubai earlier this month and followed up with a 190 for Bihar in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Fellow top-order batter Abhigyan Kundu, leading scorer in the Asia Cup with 271 runs, features in both squads as well.
Group assignments are already out. India sit in Group B with New Zealand, USA and Bangladesh. They open against USA in Bulawayo on 15 January, face Bangladesh two days later, and round off the first phase against New Zealand on 24 January. The format is familiar: 16 teams split into four pools; the top three from each advance, forming two Super Six groups; semi-finals and final follow, the trophy match set for 6 February in Harare.
India’s coaches have stressed the value of the South Africa hit-out. One member of the support staff said privately the tour should “give our lads a feel for hard, bouncy decks before they get to Harare and Bulawayo.” Pace-bowling all-rounder Henil Patel echoed that view earlier this week, noting that “the extra pace in SA helps you sort your lengths quickly.”
Below are the two squads in full:
South Africa youth-ODIs: Vaibhav Suryavanshi (capt), Aaron George (vc), Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Harvansh Singh (wk), RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan A Patel, Mohamed Enaan, Henil Patel, D Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan, Yuvraj Gohil, Rahul Kumar.
Under-19 World Cup: Ayush Mhatre (capt), Vihaan Malhotra (vc), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Aaron George, Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Harvansh Singh (wk), RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan A Patel, Mohamed Enaan, Henil Patel, D Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan.
For a side chasing a sixth U-19 crown, the mix of in-form batters, new-ball options and spin depth looks sound. The real test, as always, will be adapting quickly to southern-African conditions and coping with the pressure spikes that come with knockout cricket.
