Ayush Mhatre Receives Special Gift from Rohit Sharma Before England Tour
A Memorable Meeting Ahead of the Tour
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 19: Just before embarking on their tour to England, Ayush Mhatre, the captain of the India Under-19 cricket team, visited Rohit Sharma at his home on Wednesday. The seasoned ODI captain presented Mhatre with a signed bat, a gesture that the young player will cherish.
As the India U-19 team prepares for their England tour from June 24 to July 23, they will engage in a series of Youth ODIs and multi-day matches against their English counterparts.
Mhatre shared a heartfelt moment on Instagram, posting a photo with Rohit Sharma and captioning it, "A bat, a blessing, and a memory of a lifetime — thank you Rohit da."
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that D Deepesh and Naman Pushpak will replace Aditya Rana and Khilan Patel for the upcoming tour, as per their advisory.
This tour will feature a 50-over warm-up match, a five-match Youth One-Day series, and two multi-day games against England U19, running from June 24 to July 23, 2025.
Deepesh and Naman were on the standby list for the tour. Aditya is recovering from a stress fracture in his lower back, while Khilan is dealing with a stress reaction in his right leg, both injuries sustained during the high-performance camp at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.
Leading the squad is Ayush Mhatre, who has made a mark in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, accumulating 206 runs in six matches with an impressive strike rate of 187.27.
He narrowly missed a century, scoring 94 runs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Also included in the squad is 14-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who gained attention this season by scoring a remarkable 101 runs off just 38 balls against Gujarat Titans (GT) while playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur, making him the youngest centurion in men's T20 cricket.
His century, achieved in just 35 balls, is now the second-fastest in IPL history. He concluded the season with 252 runs in seven matches, averaging 36.00 and boasting a phenomenal strike rate of 206.56, which includes one century and one half-century.
The India U19 team will kick off their tour with a 50-over warm-up match on June 24 at Loughborough University. The first One-Day match is set for June 27 at Hove, followed by the second and third matches on June 30 and July 2 at Northampton. The fourth and fifth One-Dayers will take place on July 5 and 7 in Worcester.
After the white-ball series, the team will compete in two multi-day matches, with the first scheduled from July 12 to 15 in Beckenham, and the second from July 20 to 23 in Chelmsford.
India U19 Squad: Ayush Mhatre (Captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra, Maulyarajsinh Chavda, Rahul Kumar, Abhigyan Kundu (Vice-Captain & WK), Harvansh Singh (WK), R. S. Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Henil Patel, Yudhajit Guha, Pranav Raghavendra, Mohammed Enaan, Anmoljeet Singh, D. Deepesh, Naman Pushpak.