Sandipan Das, Sanju Samson in India U-19 Asia Cup squad

Sandipan Das, a batsman from Bengal, and Kerala's wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson have been named in India's Under-19 squad that will play the Asia Cup, in Malaysia, later this month. Delhi's Unmukt Chand will continue to lead the team, while Akshdeep Nath retains his post as vice-captain in the 15-man squad that was picked in Bangalore on Sunday.

Samson was part of Kolkata Knight Riders' squad for IPL 2012, but did not get a game.

Prashant Chopra, Kumar Deobrat and Kuldeep Yadav, who were part of India U-19s' last assignment, missed out. That assignment was a quadrangular series in Australia in April, which also featured New Zealand and England. India U-19s lost all of their group matches in that tournament, but were in top form in the knock-out games: they beat England in the semi-final, and then beat Australia by seven wickets and more than seven overs to spare.

Chand was a key performer in those two victories, hitting 94 and an unbeaten 112. He has captained India U-19s since September 2011, leading the team to victory in two quadrangular series.

India will play Nepal in the opening game of the U-19 Asia Cup, on June 23. The other participating teams include Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Malaysia and Qatar. The tournament will be a precursor to the World Cup in Australia in August.