The ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup 2026 begins today (January 15). The opening match is between the USA Under-19 and India Under-19 teams. This is a Group B match in Bulawayo.
In this match, Indian Under-19 team captain Ayush Mhatre won the toss and decided to bowl first. It was expected that the Indian team would bat first so that fans could see Vaibhav Suryavanshi ‘s batting, but that did not happen. While there was no surprise in seeing the playing 11 of the Indian team in this match, but the American team that was seen playing in this match surprised everyone. Because there is no American-born player in their team’s playing 11. The team is captained by 18-year-old Utkarsh Srivastava, who was born on February 18, 2007, in Pune, Maharashtra.
Summary of the India vs USA World Cup U-19 match
Batting first, USA lost 5 wickets for just 39 runs. Indian bowlers made a great start and did not give many chances to the opposition batsmen to score many runs in the first 10 overs. 18-year-old Henil Patel, hailing from Gujarat, is a key fast bowler for the Indian Under-19 cricket team. He is known for his accurate line and length and his ability to swing the ball both ways.
Henil has consistently performed well for Gujarat at the domestic level. His main strength is his ability to take wickets with the new ball, which he demonstrated in today’s match. He often traps batsmen with his outswingers. In six overs, he took three crucial wickets for 14 runs, with an economy rate of 2.30. He troubled the American batsmen with his swing and pace, allowing Team India to dominate by taking wickets at regular intervals.
The US team suffered its first blow on the third ball of the second over when Amrinder Gill was dismissed for just 1 run off 7 balls. Opener Sahil Garg struggled for a while but was dismissed on the last ball of the 9th over after scoring 16 runs. The team’s score was then 29. USA had high hopes from captain Utkarsh Srivastava, but he was dismissed without scoring, leaving the team with only 34 runs.
Who is Deepesh Devendran?
Devendran comes from a cricketing family. His father, Vasudevan Devendran, played in the inaugural Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Vasudevan coached Deepesh early in his career. The Tamil Nadu fast bowler earned a place in the Indian Under-19 team for the tour of England.
India’s Under-19 team’s tour of Australia in September and October brought Dipesh into the spotlight. In the Test series, he took 10 wickets in four innings at an impressive average of 9.80. In the first Test played at Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane, Devendran took five wickets in the first innings, taking his total to eight wickets. Subsequently, in the Under-19 tri-series between India A Under-19s, India B Under-19s, and Afghanistan Under-19s, Dipesh took six wickets in three matches. At just 17 years old, Dipesh has proven that the Indian team could have a future star.