Squad: Priyam Garg (c), Dhruv Chand Jurel (vc & wk), Atharva Ankolekar, Ravi Bishnoi, Shubhang Hegde, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Divyansh Joshi, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil, Shashwat Rawat, Divyaansh Saxena, Akash Singh, Tilak Varma and Kartik Tyagi

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel has been named as Garg's deputy for the tournament that begins on January 17. Garg has already established himself as a regular for his domestic team, having featured in both the Ranji Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy for them. In first-class cricket last season, he bashed 814 runs for Uttar Pradesh at an impressive average of 67.83, including a double hundred. He also represented India C in the Deodhar Trophy last month, scoring 74 in the final.

Left-handed Jaiswal has also earned a name rapidly after gaining limelight with a knock of 203 for Mumbai against Jharkhand. In 9 List A matches, he averages 84.63 with three centuries and two half-centuries. His latest century came for India U-19 against Afghanistan in a youth ODI at Lucknow.

Former India captain Rahul Dravid, currently serving as the director of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore, attended the selection meeting for the U-19 World Cup and believed India had a "good balance in the team. "Depending on the conditions in South Africa, if they aid fast bowlers, we have a pretty good attack. We have got batting all the way down to seven, eight and nine. We have got spinners if conditions suit", he said.

In Group A, defending champions India, who won the last edition in 2018 under Coach Dravid, are grouped with New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and first-timers Japan.

In addition to the squad for the World Cup, the junior selection committee also chose sixteen players who will tour South Africa immediately before the tournament for a three-match ODI series against them as well as a quadrangular series also including New Zealand and Zimbabwe for which CTL Rakshan of Hyderabad is the only extra member from the World Cup squad.