Indian Under-19 team to tour South Africa   ( Under-19 ) 

Delhi: The Indian Under-19 team is scheduled to tour South Africa before the ICC Under-19     ( Under-19 )  World Cup in 2026, which will be jointly hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia. During this tour, they will play a three-match Youth ODI series against the host team. The BCCI has announced the Indian squad for this three-match series, with the captaincy responsibility given to 14-year-old batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The board has also explained the reason behind this decision.

Vaibhav gets the responsibility due to Ayush Mhatre’s injury
On December 27, the BCCI announced the team for the Under-19 World Cup as well as the three-match Youth ODI series against South Africa. The BCCI also provided information regarding the major reason behind appointing Vaibhav Suryavanshi as captain for the series against South Africa, stating that Ayush Mhatre and Vihan Malhotra will not participate in this series due to wrist injuries. Both Ayush and Vihan will report to the BCCI Centre of Excellence for their injuries and will then join the squad before the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

Indian squad for the three-match Youth ODI series against South Africa
Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Captain), Aaron George (Vice-Captain), Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (Wicketkeeper), Harvansh Singh (Wicketkeeper), R.S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chauhan, Khilan Patel, Mohammad Enan, Henil Patel, D. Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan, Yuvraj Gohil, Rahul Kumar. 2025 has been a fantastic year for Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
If there’s one Indian player who has been the most talked about in world cricket this year, it’s 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, for whom 2025 has been quite remarkable. This year, Vaibhav not only made his IPL debut but also set the record for the fastest century by an Indian player in the tournament. His batting prowess was also on display during tours of England and Australia. Now, all eyes will be on how he performs as captain in the Youth ODI series against South Africa.