India vs Pakistan, ICC U19 World Cup 2026: India and Pakistan are set to face off for the first time in the ongoing ICC Under-19 World Cup 2026, which is being played in Zimbabwe and Namibia. India maintained their winning run as they thrashed New Zealand by 7 wickets in the rain-hit contest in Bulawayo on Saturday.
On the back of victories in all of their first three games of the tournament, India maintained their grip at the top of the group B standings and made it to the Super Six stage convincingly. Bangladesh and New Zealand also got through, whereas the USA were eliminated after the first round. The Ayush Mhatre-led Indian team will kick off their Super Six stage campaign with the match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Tuesday.
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However, all eyes will be on their second game, which will be against the arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue after a few days' break on Sunday, February 1. Pakistan have witnessed mixed performances in the tournament so far, but managed to qualify for the next round on the back of two wins in three games, having finished second behind England in group C. Their recent dominating win against Zimbabwe triggered a controversy as their slow effort during the run chase ended up eliminating Scotland from the tournament.
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Talking about the India vs Pakistan match, the much-awaited clash will take place amid the escalating political and cricketing tensions between both countries. Pakistan Cricket Board recently threatened to pull out from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which is scheduled to be played in India and Sri Lanka. Amid all the chaos between the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the ICC, the PCB left no stone unturned in clearing their stance against India.
Both teams faced each other three times in the Asia Cup 2025 amid the heavy tensions on the border after the Pahalgam Terror Attack and Operation Sindoor. The tournament witnessed an unfortunate sequence of events before India ended up winning the title with a victory over Pakistan in the final as well. The rivalry continued in junior-level cricket as well.
They faced each other recently in the Under-19 Asia Cup final in Dubai, on December 21 last year, and Pakistan emerged victorious on that occasion, winning by 191 runs.
IND vs PAK Squads, ICC U19 World Cup 2026
India U19 Squad: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre (c), Vedant Trivedi, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Aaron George, Kanishk Chouhan, RS Ambrish, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Mohamed Enaan, Harvansh Pangalia, Deepesh Devendran, Udhav Mohan, Kishan Kumar Singh
Pakistan U19 Squad: Sameer Minhas, Ali Hassan Baloch, Usman Khan, Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousaf (c), Huzaifa Ahsan, Hamza Zahoor (wk), Abdul Subhan, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Sayyam, Ali Raza, Umar Zaib, Daniyal Ali Khan, Mohammad Shayan, Niqab Shafiq