Uday Saharan, a batter from Punjab, will captain India’s championship defense in January and February of 2024 in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa. In the tournament’s history, India has been victorious five times, namely in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2018, and 2022.
Saharan was the top scorer at the Under-19 Challenger Trophy in Guwahati last month. He is presently captaining India in the Under-19 Asia Cup in Dubai. In four innings, he amassed 297 runs, including four half-centuries and a career-high 93 not out. Forty-five players competed in the competition for spots in the World Cup, chosen by the Indian junior selection panel, which was led by former Karnataka wicketkeeper Thilak Naidu.
Musheer Khan, the only player in the 15-man team with first-class experience, is an all-rounder who bats in the middle order and bowls left-arm spin. Sarfaraz Khan, a batter from Mumbai who represented India in the Under-19 World Cups in 2014 and 2016, has a younger brother named Musheer. Musheer was the third top scorer in the Under-19 Challenger Trophy with 268 runs at a strike rate of 108. In a quadrangular U-19 series encounter in November, he had hit 127 off 47 balls and claimed two wickets.
He guided Mumbai to the Cooch Behar Trophy final the previous year, and for his 670 runs and 32 wickets, he was voted Player of the Tournament. He made his Ranji Trophy debut against Saurashtra because to their efforts. He has participated in three first-class matches thus far, and on December 19, among 333 players, he was shortlisted for the IPL 2024 auction.
Arshin Kulkarni, an all-rounder from Maharashtra who dazzled talent scouts during the Maharashtra Premier League, is another breakout star in the team. He bats in the top order and bowls at a medium pace. Kulkarni participated for Maharashtra in the recently finished Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after his success in the MPL, and he is one of the uncapped Indian players at the IPL auction.
Dheeraj Gowda of Karnataka and Raj Limbani of Baroda spearhead a potent pace attack. Gowda got the most wickets at the Challengers, taking nine at an economy of 4.42, while Limbani claimed seven wickets at the Under-19 Asia Cup on Tuesday against Nepal. The two wicketkeepers are Avanish Rao of Hyderabad and Innesh Mahajan of Himachal Pradesh.
India will play a U-19 tri-series against South Africa and England, the hosts of the World Cup, from December 29 to January 10.
India’s opening World Cup encounter is against Bangladesh on January 20 in Bloemfontein. India is in Group A with Bangladesh, Ireland, and the United States. Next, on January 25th, they play in Ireland, and on January 28th, in the USA.
Adarsh Singh, Rudra Mayur Patel, Sachin Dhas, Priyanshu Moliya, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (captain), Aravelly Avanish Rao (wk), Saumy Kumar Pandey (vc), Murugan Abhishek, Innesh Mahajan (wk), Dhanush Gowda, Aaradhya Shukla, Raj Limbani, and Naman Tiwari are the members of the India squad for the triseries and Under-19 World Cup.
Mohammed Aman, Ansh Gosai, and Prem Devkar are the tri-series reserve players.
Players on standby: Kiran Chormale, Jayanth Goyat, P Vignesh, and Digvijay Patil
