- By Himanshu Badola
- Sun, 01 Feb 2026 01:24 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
India U19 vs Pakistan U19, ICC Under-19 World Cup 2026: The captains of both India and Pakistan avoided the customary handshake during the toss of the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2026 match at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Sunday. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first as both teams aim to make it to the semifinal.
The 'no handshake' ritual has become a norm in India vs Pakistan matches ever since Suryakumar Yadav did the same with Salman Ali Agha during the Asia Cup 2025. A similar moment took place between Ayush Mhatre and Farhan Yousaf today during the Super Sixes clash between the arch-rivals. The same trend has continued with India A refusing to shake hands with Pakistan A in the Asia Cup Rising Stars.
India have been in incredible form and headed into the match against Pakistan on the back of victories against the USA, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. The Men in Blue are placed second in the Group 2 points table in the Super Six stages with six points under their belt. On the other hand, Pakistan stand third with four points after three games.
Indian Ayush Mhatre came forward and talked about how they were looking to bat first anyway and how confident they feel ahead of the clash. "We would've batted first. Boys are doing well. We are confident. Sunny day, first three games there was rain. Last two games, there was good weather. Udhav Mohan out, Deepesh comes in,” Mhatre said at the toss.
India's equation is pretty simple, as a win against Pakistan will ensure they qualify for the final four as the top-ranked team from Group 2. A defeat, however, could spice things up if Pakistan get the net run-rate into play. Talking about Pakistan, a win won't be enough for them to close the net run-rate gap with India. They would require a victory by a huge margin to leapfrog India in the standings and secure a place in the semi-finals.
IND U19 vs PAK U19 Playing XIs, ICC U19 World Cup 2026
India U19 (Playing XI): Aaron George, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre(c), Vihaan Malhotra, Abhigyan Kundu(w), Vedant Trivedi, RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Deepesh Devendran
Pakistan U19 (Playing XI): Hamza Zahoor(w), Sameer Minhas, Usman Khan, Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousaf(c), Huzaifa Ahsan, Ali Hassan Baloch, Abdul Subhan, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Sayyam, Ali Raza