Ayush Mhatre has been named captain of India U19 for their tour to England, starting next month. Ayush has hogged the limelight with explosive batting in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 while playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, the Indian team have now received a setback with two of their players getting ruled out with injuries. Aditya Rana and Khilan Patel sustained a stress fracture in lower back and a stress reaction in right leg, respectively.
In their places, the Junior Cricket Committee has named D. Deepesh and Naman Pushpak as replacements who were initially on the standby players’ list for the tour.
Mhatre, who has 206 runs at an average of 34.33 and a 187.27 strike rate in IPL 2025, including a fifty has been touted as the next big thing, particularly because of his supreme batting expertise at such a young age.
Meanwhile, another young dynamite, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, has been included in the squad after his sensational batting performances in IPL 2025. He has 252 runs at an average of 36 and a 206.55 strike rate in seven innings this season, including one fifty and a century.
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Vaibhav and Ayush are the two best talents of the tournament and rightly find a place in the multi-format series against England U19. Both have already fetched accolades from experts and fans, and this tour will help them hone their skills in different conditions and gain more experience.
Abhigyan Kundu, the wicketkeeper batter, will be the vice-captain of the India U19 squad, while Vihaan Malhotra and Rahul Kumar are other talented players in the team. The other wicketkeeper batter is Harvansh Singh, who might get a chance only in Kundu’s absence.
However, the focus will be on two IPL stars – Ayush Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi – who are also in rich form and would like to continue that in the UK. If these two keep performing the same way, their chances of being fast-tracked will surge since the talent is palpable.
Mhatre has been named captain of the squad, showing the trust selectors have in his abilities, whereas Vaibhav gets included at a tender age of 14. The IPL has a role in their selection, and rightly so.
The tour will start with a 50-over warm-up game before five 50-over matches are played across different venues. The itinerary will finish with two Multi-Day matches in Beckenham and Chelmsford.
Updated India U19 Squad: Ayush Mhatre (Captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra, Maulyarajsinh Chavda, Rahul Kumar, Abhigyan Kundu (Vice-Captain & WK), Harvansh Singh (WK), R. S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Henil Patel, Yudhajit Guha, Pranav Raghavendra, Mohammed Enaan, Anmoljeet Singh, D. Deepesh, Naman Pushpak.
Standby Players: Vedant Trivedi, Vikalp Tiwari, Alankrith Rapole (WK)
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