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The first step towards winning two World Cups begins today: India faces the USA in the Icc Under 19 World Cup; the T20 World Cup starts on February 7th.
The biggest battle of cricket’s future stars, the Under 19 World Cup, is set to begin on Thursday. The most successful team, India, will start its campaign for a sixth title against the USA. The match will begin at 1 PM Indian time. Viewers can watch it live on the Jio Star network. This also marks the beginning of India’s quest to win two World Cups in the next two months. Immediately after the Youth World Cup concludes, the senior Indian team will defend its title in the T20 World Cup starting on February 7th.
Ayush Mhatre will captain the Youth ODI team, while Suryakumar Yadav will lead the T20 team.
In these two mega events, India’s biggest concern is the extremely poor form of both captains. Neither of them has scored a fifty in the last few matches, and they are going through a rough patch. There is no doubt that both captains are known for their explosive batting and, when in form, they can decimate any bowling attack.
Expectations from Ayush: He hasn’t scored a fifty in the Youth ODI series, but he has shown his talent in Test cricket.
In the ICC Under 19 World Cup being played in Zimbabwe and Namibia, the Indian team is being captained by 18-year-old Ayush Mhatre. However, his performance in the 50-over format so far has not been commensurate with his talent. Ayush has scored only 143 runs in the 14 youth ODI matches he has played so far. During this period, his average has been 10.21, which is a cause for concern for an opening batsman. Furthermore, he has not scored a single half-century in this format yet.
Suryakumar Yadav’s poor form continues for the past 14 months, with no half-centuries in 25 matches.
Although the T20 World Cup is still almost a month away, Team India‘s biggest concern remains the poor form of their captain, Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar hasn’t scored a half-century in T20 Internationals for the past 14 months. His last fifty came in November 2024. In the 25 T20 International matches played since then, he has managed only 244 runs. During this period, his average has been a mere 12.84, while his strike rate has also dropped to 117.87. In this poor run of form, Suryakumar has been dismissed for a duck three times.
What’s gone wrong for Suryakumar Yadav form?
This decline is particularly concerning because, before November 2024, Suryakumar Yadav was considered one of the most dangerous batsmen in T20 cricket. During that period, his average was around 42 and his strike rate was approximately 170. Moreover, he was scoring 50 or more runs in every third innings. However, before the mega event, Surya will have an excellent opportunity to regain his form in the five-match T20 series against New Zealand.
icc under-19 cricket world cup schedule
ICC Under 19 World Cup, 2026 – Match 1 Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo India vs USA
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 2 Takashinga Sports Club, Harare
Zimbabve vs Scotland
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 3 High Performance Oval, Windhoek
Tanzania vs West Indies
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 4 Takashinga Sports Club, Harare
Pakistan vs England
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 5 Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek
Australia vs Ireland
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 6 High Performance Oval, Windhoek
Afghanistan vs South Africa
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 7 Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo India vs Bangladesh
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 8 Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek
India vs Sri Lanka
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 9 Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo New Zealand vs USA
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 10 Takashinga Sports Club, Harare England vs Zimbabve
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 11 High Performance Oval, Windhoek Wesindies vs Afghanistan
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 12 Takashinga Sports Club, Harare
Pakistan vs Scotland
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 13 Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek
Sri Lanka vs Ireland
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 14 High Performance Oval, Windhoek
South Africa vs Tanzania
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 15 Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Bangladesh vs New Zealand
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 16 Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek
Austraia vs Japan
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 17 Takashinga Sports Club, Harare
England vs Scotland
Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 18 High Performance Oval, Windhoek
Afghanistan vs Tanzania
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 19 Takashinga Sports Club, Harare
Zimbabve vs Pakistan
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 20 Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek
Ireland vs Japan
ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 21 High Performance Oval, Windhoek
West Indies vs South Africa
C Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 22 Takashinga Sports Club, Harare
Bangladesh vs USA
C Under-19 Cricket World Cup, 2026 – Match 23 Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek
Sri Lanka vs Austrlia