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Uday Saharan will captain the India team at the 2024 Under 19 Men's World Cup in South Africa, the BCCI has confirmed.
Saharan is a middle-order batter, who has played U14, U16, and U19 cricket for Punjab. He is presently leading India at the U19 Asia Cup in Dubai as well. He was also the leading run-getter in the U19 One-Day Challenger Trophy.
The 15-member squad chosen for the U19 World Cup is the same that is featuring in the U19 Asia Cup. The same team will also take part in the tri-series featuring England and hosts South Africa in the build-up to the World Cup.
Adarsh Singh and Arshin Kulkarni, who have done a decent job in the U19 Asia Cup so far, have been retained as openers. Rudra Mayur Patel,17, will be the No. 3 batter. Skipper Saharan, who scored 60 off 98 against Pakistan in the U19 Asia Cup clash, bats at No. 4.
Mumbai's Musheer Khan bats in the middle-order and can also contribute a few overs of left-arm spin. Musheer is the brother of Sarfaraz Khan.
Speaking of keepers, Aravelly Avanish Rao from Hyderabad is set to be the first choice with Himachal Pradesh's Innesh Mahajan as the backup. Sachin Dhas, who hammered 58 off 49 against Pakistan, will be expected to lift the innings at the death.
Looking at bowling options for the World Cup, the India U19 squad will depend on left-arm pacer Naman Tiwari, right-arm pacer Raj Limbani, left-arm spinner and vice-captain Saumy Kumar Pandey and off-spinner Murugan Abhishek.
Right-arm pacers Aaradhya Shukla, Dhanush Gowda, and batter Priyanshu Moliya are the other members of India’s 2024 U19 World Cup squad.
Further, the BCCI has named Prem Devkar, Ansh Gosai and Md. Amaan as the traveling standbys for the tri-series, while Digvijay Patil, Jayanth Goyat, P Vignesh, and Kiran Chormale have been named as the backup players.
India will begin their U19 World Cup campaign with a match against Bangladesh in Bloemfontein on January 20, 2024. India's next two group fixtures will be against Ireland and USA on January 25 and 28 respectively. The final will be played in Benoni on February 11, 2024.
India’s squad for the 2024 U19 World Cup
Below is India’s 15-member squad for the 2024 U19 World Cup to be played in South Africa.
Arshin Kulkarni, Adarsh Singh, Rudra Mayur Patel, Sachin Dhas, Priyanshu Moliya, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (captain), Aravelly Avanish Rao (wk), Saumy Kumar Pandey (vice-captain), Murugan Abhishek, Innesh Mahajan (wk), Dhanush Gowda, Aaradhya Shukla, Raj Limbani, Naman Tiwari.
India are the defending champions in the Men’s U19 World Cup. They beat England by four wickets in Antigua in the final of the 2022 edition.
