Fourteen-year-old sensation Sooryavanshi among players to watch from Group B
India captain Ayush Mhatre and NZ's Aryan Mann could also make a splash
Abhijato Sensarma
12-Jan-2026 • 3 hrs ago
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The men's Under-19 World Cup begins on January 15, and Group B's four teams - India (five U-19 titles), Bangladesh (two titles), New Zealand, and the USA - have some exciting talents who will face each other. Here's a look at five of them.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (India)
Only 14, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi took the cricketing world by storm when he smashed a 38-ball 101 for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025. Since then, he has broken plenty of records in both youth and domestic cricket. The opener recently scored the fastest 150 in men's List A cricket, off 59 balls, the second-highest Youth ODI score for India (171 off 95 balls), and the joint-sixth-fastest century in all men's T20s. He is on track to smash more records in his first Under-19 World Cup.
Ayush Mhatre (India)
India's captain - and a teen batting sensation from Mumbai - Ayush Mhatre has graduated to senior cricket and the IPL already. He made his domestic red-ball debut last season, scoring his maiden first-class century at the Ranji Trophy in just his third game. He has also scored 181 off 117 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and grabbed more eyeballs when he smacked 32 off 15 balls on IPL debut, for Chennai Super Kings. In the lead-up to the Under-19 World Cup, he hit back-to-back centuries for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's domestic T20 tournament.
Azizul Hakim (Bangladesh)
An allrounder, Azizul Hakim will lead Bangladesh six years after they won their maiden Under-19 World Cup title. He is one of only two batters to have scored a 1000-plus runs in youth cricket since 2024. During the period, he has racked up 1067 runs in 32 matches at an average of 41.03, including two hundreds against Afghanistan. He has also taken 26 wickets at an economy rate of 4.59 and brings with him the experience of playing two first-class games.
Ayush Mhatre showed attacking enterprise in IPL 2025•BCCI
Aryan Mann (New Zealand)
An attacking batter, who can also keep wicket, Aryan Mann scored twin half-centuries on first-class debut and got to share the Northern Districts dressing room with Kane Williamson during the domestic season. He was also impressive behind the stumps on debut, effecting four dismissals. He also spent last winter training at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai, and will be looking forward to making an impression in his first Under-19 World Cup.
Utkarsh Srivastava (USA)
A big-hitter who can also bowl tidy spin, 18-year-old Utkarsh Srivastava was USA's leading run-scorer at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup. He returns as captain after a promising ODI debut for the senior side in October 2024. He scored a counterattacking 67 off 63 against Scotland, after entering at 115 for 5. At the West Indies U-19 Rising Stars Tournament in July 2025, he scored 289 runs at 41.28, including 124 against Barbados, while also picking up nine wickets at 16.88.
Abhijato Sensarma is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
