On Monday, the 15-member Indian U-19 squad was announced for the upcoming U-19 World Cup 2020. The 13th edition of the quadrennial tournament will be held in South Africa between January 17 and February 9 and the boys in blue have won it four times and they will also be the defending champions in this edition.
Uttar Pradesh batsman Priyam Garg has been named as the captain of the 15-member squad which will head to South Africa. Dhruv Chand Jurel has been named as the deputy skipper and he has also been included as the wicket-keeper apart from Kumal Kushagra in the squad.
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India has been drawn alongside Japan, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka in Group A. 16 teams will participate in the tournament and they have been drawn in groups of 4. Mumbai’s Yashasvi Jaiswal along with Divyansh Saxena, Uttarakhand’s Shashwat Rawat and Hyderabad’s Tilak Varma are among the batsmen to be the lookout for in the India squad.
Four-time winner India announce U19 Cricket World Cup squad. Priyam Garg to lead the side. pic.twitter.com/VEIPxe2a2n
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2019
Yashasvi has been in fine form in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy — 50-over domestic tournament. Yashasvi went on to smash 203 off 154 balls with 12 sixes and 17 boundaries for Mumbai in October, thereby becoming the youngest batsman to hit a double ton in List A cricket.
In 2018, under the leadership of Prithvi Shaw, India clinched glory by beating Australia in New Zealand in the final. Speaking about India’s chances in the upcoming U-19 World Cup, Rahul Dravid said the “good balance” in the team makes it one of the favorites.
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Talking about this team, coach Rahul Dravid said, “We have got a good balance in the team. We probably had more all-rounders in last year’s team. But in terms of balance, the selectors have done a fine job in picking a good side. So, if the conditions in South Africa aid the fast bowlers, we will have a pretty good attack. We have got batting down to seven, eight, nine. We have got spinners. We had enough competition for places, so that was nice to see.”
India U-19 probables, a squad of 22 players, had begun preparations for the U-19 World Cup with a 5-match one-day series against Afghanistan U-19 at home between November 22 and 30.
India squad for U-19 World Cup 2020:
Priyam Garg (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain and wk), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil.
