'Explicit instructions': Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and handshake in focus as India set to take on Pakistan in U-19 Asia Cup

NEW DELHI: All eyes will be on young batters Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre during India’s Asia Cup U-19 campaign, but a key point of attention will be whether the BCCI permits the players to shake hands with the Pakistan team, a gesture seen as basic sporting courtesy at the junior level.

The India U-19 team, captained by Mumbai and CSK opener Mhatre, will start its campaign against the UAE on Friday. The match against Pakistan on Sunday is expected to draw the most attention in a tournament viewed as preparation for next year’s U-19 World Cup.




In the senior men’s Asia Cup, the Women’s ODI World Cup and the Rising Stars Asia Cup T20, Indian players did not shake hands with Pakistan players as a gesture of support for the Indian Army and victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.

For the U-19 players, it is understood that the ICC prefers that political issues not be linked with junior cricket and that regular protocols of sportsmanship be followed.

"The boys haven't been told anything. But obviously BCCI has given explicit instructions to its manager Anand Datar. Now if Indian boys don't shake hands with Pakistan team then match referee will have to be informed in advance. We know for a fact that ICC doesn't want politics to take front seat when it comes to junior cricket. So it is a case of both bad optics and public sentiment," a BCCI official was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.

In the tournament, India and Pakistan are expected to make the semi-finals as the top two teams from Group A. Malaysia and the UAE are the other group members and have limited experience in 50-over cricket.

Both Sooryavanshi and Mhatre enter the event after strong performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Mhatre contributed with consecutive centuries and a fifty in the group stage, while Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to score a SMAT century, against Maharashtra.

In India’s 15-member squad, these two players have played more than 30 senior matches across formats and have a combined total of nine centuries. This is the highest number of senior-level centuries when compared to all the other seven teams together, making India strong contenders in the tournament.

India U19 squad for Asia Cup:

• Ayush Mhatre (C), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra (vc), Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Harvansh Singh (wk), Yuvraj Gohil, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan A. Patel, Naman Pushpak, D. Deepesh, Henil Patel, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan, Aaron George.

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