Johannesburg: South Africa will host India and Afghanistan in a U-19 men’s tri-series ahead of next month’s World Cup in the country, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Thursday.
The series will serve as the final preparation for all three teams ahead of the 2024 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup. All seven matches of the tri-series will be played at the Old Edwardians Cricket Club in Johannesburg from 29 December to 10 January.
“CSA would like to express our gratitude to the Cricket Boards of India and Afghanistan for their cooperation and commitment to ensuring that the tri-series goes ahead. These matches are a crucial component of our preparation for the World Cup.
“They provide our young cricketers with the ideal platform to test their skills against competitive opponents in India and Afghanistan. The series will also serve as a final opportunity for our players to improve their performances ahead of the World Cup on home soil,” said Grant van Velden, Head of High Performance at CSA.
India will open their tri-series campaign against Afghanistan on December 29, followed by their second match against South Africa on January 2. It will meet Afghanistan again on January 4, before facing South Africa for the second time on January 6, with the final match. Scheduled for January 10.
“The series represents a good opportunity for our future stars and the other two participating teams to effectively prepare for the 2024 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup,” said Naseeb Khan, CEO of Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).
For the Under-19 World Cup, hosts South Africa, captained by David Tiger, were placed in Group B alongside England, Scotland and the West Indies. They will begin their World Cup campaign on January 19 against the West Indies at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom.
On the other hand, defending champions India, led by Uday Sahara, are in Group A of the World Cup alongside Bangladesh, Ireland and the USA. They will play their first match against Bangladesh on January 20 in Bloemfontein, before taking on Ireland and USA on January 25 and 28 respectively.
South Africa squad: David Tiger (captain), Isosa Ahievba, Juan James, Martin Khumalo, Kwena Mafaka, Dewan Marias, Riley Norton, Nkopane Mokoena, Romashane Pillay, Sipho Botsane, Luan Dre Pretorius, Richard Seletswene, Oliver Whitehead, Steve Stock. And Ntando Zuma.
India squad: Arshin Kulkarni, Adarsh Singh, Rudra Mayur Patel, Sachin Das, Priyanshu Mulia, Mushir Khan, Uday Sahara (captain), Aravelli Avaneesh Rao (wk), Somi Kumar Pandey (vice-captain), Murugan Abhishek, Enesh. Mahajan (Week), Dhanush Gowda, Aaradhya Shukla, Raj Limbani and Naman Tiwari
India’s reserve players for the tri-series: Prem Devkar, Ansh Gosai and Mohammad Aman