By Admin 
The second semi-final of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup is being played between India and Afghanistan. Afghanistan has reached the semi-finals for the first time, while Team India has won the title 5 times. Of course, the Indian Under-19 team looks strong in the records, but the team’s morale is high after the big win of 191 runs in the last match. Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first.
Indian playing 11: Aaron George, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre (captain), Vedant Trivedi, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhigayan Kundu (wicketkeeper), RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chauhan, Khilan Patel, Deepesh Devendran, Henil Patel.
Afghanistan’s playing 11: Osman Sadat, Khalid Ahmedzai, Faisal Khan, Mehboob Taskin (captain and wicketkeeper), Azizullah Miyan Khil, Uzairullah Niazai, Abdul Aziz Khan, Ruhullah Arb, Nurustani Omarzai, Waheedullah Zadran, Akil Khan.
Will keep an eye on these Indian players
Everyone’s eyes will be on Vaibhav Suryavanshi, because if he lasts even 10 to 15 overs, he can score a big score. Vaibhav’s strength is that he does not hesitate to hit a big shot from the first ball, although sometimes this becomes his weakness. Vaibhav has scored 196 runs in 5 matches, his best score is 72.
The highest run scorer for India so far in the Under-19 World Cup 2026 is Abhigyan Abhishek Kundu, who has scored 199 runs in 4 innings. Captain Ayush Mhatre could not make an impact in any other match except against New Zealand (53), he has scored a total of 99 runs in 5 matches.
In bowling, good performance will be expected from Henil Patel and Khilan Patel today, Henil has taken 11 wickets in 5 matches. Khilan Patel has taken 8 wickets in 5 matches. In the last match, he took 3 wickets against Pakistan.
These players of Afghanistan will be kept an eye on
Faisal Khan, who is batting at number three for Afghanistan, is in excellent form, he had scored an inning of 163 runs against Ireland in the last match. Of course, there are batsmen like Ayush Mhatre, Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the Indian team, but Faisal is ahead of them in the top run scorer of this edition, who has scored 325 runs in 5 innings. He is the second highest run scoring batsman.
Eyes will also be on Nuristani Omarzai, who has been bowling well so far. He has taken 12 wickets in 5 matches. It remains to be seen whether he can maintain that rhythm against a strong team like India or not.