Vaibhav Suryavanshi GettyImage Credit source: Getty Images

What can one achieve at just 14 years of age? Especially in a country like India, what level can one reach at such a young age while playing cricket? Till about 10 months ago, everyone would have had the same answer – nothing special. But in these 10 months, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has answered these and many such questions. Vaibhav, who has already created a stir across the world with his explosive batting and has grabbed headlines, is now going to do another miracle. At the age of just 14, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been made the captain of India's Under-19 team.

In which match will Vaibhav Suryavanshi captain?

BCCI's Junior Men's Selection Committee on Saturday 27 December Under-19 World Cup 2026 Team India announced for. Along with this, the squad was also announced for the Youth ODI series against South Africa. The command of the World Cup team has been handed over to Ayush Mhatre, who has been handling this responsibility for the last few months. But for the South Africa series, young opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been made the captain of Team India.

This is the first time for Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who made his debut for Team India in 2024, when he will captain the Indian team. Under his captaincy, the Indian team will play 3 ODI matches in this series, which will start from January 3. This series will help in preparation for the World Cup. Also, this will be a special opportunity for Vaibhav, where apart from showing his batting prowess, he will also be able to learn the tricks of captaincy. This ODI series will be played before the World Cup and will start in the first week of January.

Why did Vaibhav get the captaincy?

Left-handed batsman Vaibhav has got this responsibility due to the injury of regular captain Ayush Mhatre. Mhatre was recently commanding Team India in the Under-19 Asia Cup. But at present he has injured his wrist, due to which he will go to BCCI's Center of Excellence (CoE) to complete rehabilitation and will not be able to play this series. Team vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra has also suffered a wrist injury and like Ayush, he too will go to CoE. Both of them will join the World Cup squad after this.

Indian squad for South Africa tour

Vaibhav Suryavanshi (captain), Aaron George (vice-captain), Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wicketkeeper), Harvansh Singh, RS Ambareesh, Kanishk Chauhan, Khilan A Patel, Mohammad Inan, Henil Patel, Devandran Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan, Yuvraj Gohil and Rahul Kumar.

India-South Africa series schedule

January 3: 1st ODI, Willowmoor Park (Benoni)

5 January: 2nd ODI, Willowmoor Park (Benoni)

7 January: 3rd ODI, Willowmoor Park (Benoni)

(News is being updated)