India Announce Squad For ICC U19 Cricket World Cup

India, on Sunday, named their 15-man squad for next year’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. Priyam Garg will lead the side  as India look to win the title for the fifth time. The squad also features Yashasvi Jaiswal who recently scored a double century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

India are the most successful team in the history of the competition, having won it four times. Australia have won it thrice, Pakistan twice and England, South Africa, and the West Indies have won it once each. India are also the reigning champions of the competition, having defeated Australia in the final of last year’s World Cup.

Ahead of the World Cup, India U19 will travel to South Africa for three one-day matches against South Africa U19 followed by a Quadrangular Series featuring South Africa U19, India U19, Zimbabwe U19 and New Zealand U19.

A great learning experience:

Meanwhile, former India skipper and U19 coach Rahul Dravid has said that the competition will be a great learning experience for the youngsters. He also said that the tag of ‘defending champions’ will not carry much value, as it will be a completely fresh side at the World Cup, facing new challenges and eager to play good cricket.

“It’s going to be a great learning experience for our boys and we will try and create a good environment and play some good cricket. If we win, great. Defending champion, for me, doesn’t [matter],” Dravid was quoted as saying by ICC.

“All the boys are new. One of the things that we have done over the years is that we have ensured that no one plays more than one World Cup. So, everyone will be playing their first World Cup. It makes no difference,” he explained.

The 16-team competition, which features tournament debutants Japan and Nigeria, kicks off with a match in Kimberley between tournament hosts South Africa and Afghanistan on 17 January. India, on the other hand, will open their campaign against Sri Lanka on January 19 in Bloemfontein.

India squad:

Yashasvi Jaiswal (MCA), Tilak Varma (Hyderabad CA), Divyaansh Saxena (MCA), Priyam Garg (Captain) (UPCA), Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain & wicket-keeper) (UPCA), Shashwat Rawat (Baroda CA), Divyansh Joshi (CA Mizoram), Shubhang Hegde (KSCA), Ravi Bishnoi (RCA), Akash Singh (RCA), Kartik Tyagi (UPCA), Atharva Ankolekar (MCA), Kumar Kushagra (wicket-keeper) (JSCA), Sushant Mishra (JSCA), Vidyadhar Patil (KSCA)