BCCI Announces India U-19 World Cup 2026 Squad, Mhatre to Lead

The Board of Control for Cricket in india (BCCI) has named the squad for the ICC Under-19 Men’s ODI World Cup 2026. Ayush Mhatre will continue to lead the team as captain, while Vihaan Malhotra will remain the vice-captain. Yuvraj Hogil and Naman Pushpak, who were part of the team in the Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup 2025, have been dropped, with Mohamed Enaan and R.S. Ambrish replacing them.

India will go into the tournament as strong favourites. They are five-time champions (2000, 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2022) and were runners-up last year.

India name strong squad for U-19 World Cup

The presence of Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who have already made a big name for themselves in the Indian Premier League (IPL), only raises expectations further. While Mhatre will lead the team in the ICC event, he won’t be featuring in the preparatory series against South Africa.

He and Vihaan are out with wrist injuries and will report to the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. In Mhatre’s absence, Suryavanshi will captain the side, and Aaron George will be his deputy.

“Ayush Mhatre and Vihaan Malhotra have sustained wrist injuries and will miss the South Africa tour. 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,” BCCI said.

India’s squad for ICC Under-19 Men’s ODI World Cup 2026: Ayush Mhatre (C), Vihaan Malhotra (VC), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 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, Udhav Mohan