New Delhi:
The India squad for the upcoming 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup which will be held in South Africa in January has been announced with Priyam Garg to captain the side. The side also sees star players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Atharva Ankolekar who have made a mark in several Under-19 series as well as in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. All eyes though, will be on Yashasvi Jaiswal, who starred in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy as well as in the two matches against Afghanistan Under-19 in Lucknow. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Jaiswal stole the show when he smashed 203 for Mumbai against Jharkhand in Alur, making him the youngest player in the history of the game to smash a double ton in List A cricket.
Jaiswal's success came after massive struggles. The youngster started off his career by selling pani puris and stayed in a tent at the Shivaji Park cricket ground before finally breaking into the big league. In the two games against Afghanistan, Jaiswal blasted 108 and 38 but the series ended 1-1 with Afghanistan winning the first game in which Jaiswal scored a ton. Ankolekar is best remembered for his exploits in the Under-19 Asia Cup which was held in Colombo in September 2019.
India were bowled out for 106 in the final against Bangladesh but Ankolekar's brilliant haul of 5/28 gave them a nervy five-run victory and the title. However, all eyes will be on Garg, who has been in superb form across all formats in the last year. He currently averages 66 in first-class cricket and has an average of 41.46 in List A cricket. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Garg slammed 79 against Delhi and 120 against Vidarbha as he became one of the top run-getters for Uttar Pradesh in the tournament.
The U19 Cricket World Cup 2020 will be contested in South Africa from 17th January to 9th February. The 13th edition of the World Cup will be played between 16 teams, split into four groups. India are placed in Group A with first-time qualifier Japan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The top two teams from each group will then qualify for the Super League stage. India are the most successful team having won four titles till date, including in 2018, when they beat Australia by eight wickets in the final and remained unbeaten in the tournament.
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India U19 squad for World Cup: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Priyam Garg (Captain), Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wicket-keeper), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil
