New Delhi: India U19 team scripted history by winning the 2026 U19 World Cup as the Men in Blue defeated England by 100 runs at the Harare Cricket Ground on Friday, February 6. The U19 cricket offers a glimpse of youngsters who will become future superstars on the big stage later on, among a much bigger talent pond.
Several youngsters came with experience in the domestic circuit of their respective cricket, and with the talent pool being so vast in this tournament, let’s take a look at the breakout stars of the U19 World Cup 2026.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi
The left-hand ferrous batter won the Player of the Match in the final and the Player of the Tournament award. Suryavanshi was the second-highest run getter in the tournament, scoring 439 runs in seven matches at a strike-rate of 169.50 and an average of 62.71.
Apart from his memorable innings in the final against England, Suryavanshi had a decent tournament, but with IPL and domestic circuit experience, the left-hand batter showed his greatness in the match that mattered the most, and with his phenomenal display of batting, Suryavanshi concluded the tournament on a high and helped his side to lift the record sixth U-19 title.
Manny Lumsden – England
The English pacer also had a similar story to Suryavanshi, as he had already made his senior outings before making it to the U19 World Cup stage. At just 17, Lumsden played three List A games for Hampshire.
The 5-foot-11-inch player picked up the most wickets in the tournament. Lumsden scalped 16 wickets in seven games with an average of 16.06 and never went wicketless in the event. He had only one forgetful day in the tournament, and unfortunately, that came in the final against India, where he leaked 81 runs and picked up just one wicket.
Faisal Shinozada – Afghanistan
Afghanistan U19 tied their best finish in the World Cup as they qualified for the semi-finals, but succumbed to India in the knock-out game. Before the event went to the final, Faisal was the leading scorer in the tournament, and he was the only player in this edition to score back-to-back hundreds.
Faisal’s best knock came against the giants in the semi-final as he scored 110 runs to invite the Men in Blue to chase a historic score in the knock-out game. In the early stage of the tournament, Faisal also played a stunning innings against South Africa, scoring 81 runs.
Ollie Peake – Australia
After Suryavanshi, Australian Ollie Peake was eager to put on a dominating display on his already glittering resume, but apart from his one inning against England in the semi-final, he had a below-par tournament considering his standards and experience.
But Peake’s masterclass innings were enough to include his name in the list. The left-hand batter almost showed a Glenn Maxwell show during the ODI World Cup 2023 against Afghanistan.
Peake was suffering from cramps, and his team was chasing 278. No other batter crossed the 50-run mark, but the skipper played a remarkable innings of 100 runs off just 88 balls and almost took his side over the line, but with no support from the other end, Australia was knocked out of the tournament.