The Cricketer breaks down all the key details ahead of the competition including format, history, squads, odds, TV and streaming information and much, much more...
This is the 15th edition of the ICC Men's Under-19 Cricket World Cup, with the competition taking place every two years. The 2024 tournament is being held in South Africa with 16 teams facing off in the 50-over one-day international format.
The tournament starts on Friday, January 19 when Ireland face United States and South Africa take on West Indies.
The group stage runs until January 27, before the two-group Super 6 stage. The semi-finals are staged on February 6 and 8, with the final following in Benoni on February 11.
Each team has 50 overs to bat and bowl, as per a standard ODI match, and the team that scores the most runs win.
There are also three powerplay phases of the innings during which the number of fielders that can be deployed in the outfield changes.
Powerplay one lasts for the first 10 overs and restricts the fielding team to having only two fielders outside the 30-yard inner circle. Powerplay two covers overs 11-40 in which the fielding team captain can only position a maximum of four fielders outside the inner circle. Powerplay three is for the last 10 overs where a maximum of five fielders can be outside the inner circle.
Additionally, no bowler can deliver more than 10 overs during the innings.
If both innings last the full allotted overs, they should last around three and a half hours each with a 30-minute interval between. There will also be two drinks breaks in each session around an hour and 10 minutes apart.
In the event both teams finish on the same score, a Super Over will be used to separate them. Teams can select any batters to take part, even if they have been given out in the match. If the scores remain tied after the first Super Over, a second will follow. They will continue until there is a clear winner.
England and India contested the final in 2023, with India winning by four wickets [ICC]
Sixteen teams will be involved in the tournament.
Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa (hosts), Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe qualified automatically due to their standing as the best-placed Full Member nations at the 2022 event.
Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Scotland and USA secured their spots via regional qualifiers.
The 16 teams have been split into four groups of four and will contest a single round robin. The top three teams from each group will then advance to the Super 6 stage while the fourth-placed teams drop into a 16th-place playoff.
In the Super 6, the three teams from group A will be in a group with the group D teams while the B and C teams will combine to form another group. Each team will carry forward the number of points, wins and net run rate they have earned against their fellow Super Six teams before playing a further two matches against the teams from their partner group that finished in a different position (e.g. A1 will play D2 and D3, B2 will play C1 and C3).
The top two teams in each group will progress to the semi-finals.
Group A: Bangladesh, India, Ireland, USA
Group B: England, Scotland, South Africa, West Indies
Group C: Australia, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan
India captured their fifth title, defeating England by four wickets in the final. Raj Bawa collected 5 for 31 as England were bowled out for 189, a total which would have been a lot worse without James Rew's 95, before half-centuries from Shaik Rasheed and Nishant Sindhu saw India to victory with 14 balls to spare.
Australia finished in third position, defeating Afghanistan by two wickets in the third-place playoff thanks to the all-round efforts of Nivethan Radhakrishnan (66 and 3 for 31).
Australia and Afghanistan finished third and fourth, respectively, in 2022 [ICC]
The Under-19s Men's Cricket World Cup was established in 1988 as an eight-team competition before returning in 1998 with 16 teams. It has been played every two years since then.
India are the most successful side in the tournament's history, winning five titles and finishing second or third on a further five occasions.
Australia (three) and Pakistan (two) are the only other sides with multiple titles while Bangladesh (2020), England (1998), South Africa (2014) and West Indies (2016) have one win apiece.
Bangladesh captured their maiden title when South Africa hosted the tournament in 2020 [Michele Spatari/Getty Images]
Afghanistan: Naseer Khan (c), Numan Shah (vc & wk), Hassan Eisakhil, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Khalid Taniwal, Ali Ahmad Nasar, Jamshid Zadran, Sohail Khan Zurmati, Rahimullah Zurmati, Allah Mohammad, Arab Gul Momand, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Bashir Ahmad, Khalil Ahmad, Zahid Afghan
Australia: Lachlan Aitken, Charlie Anderson, Harkirat Bajwa, Mahli Beardman, Tom Campbell, Harry Dixon, Ryan Hicks, Sam Konstas, Rafael MacMillan, Aidan O'Connor, Harjas Singh, Tom Straker, Callum Vidler, Corey Wasley, Hugh Weibgen
Bangladesh: Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby (c), Ashiqur Rahaman Shibli, Jishan Alam, Chowdhury Md Rizwan, Adil Bin Siddik, Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Boranno, Ariful Islam, Shihab James, Ahrar Amin (Vice Captain), Sheikh Parvez Jibon, Rafi Uzzaman Rafi, Rohanat Doullah Borson, Iqbal Hasan Emon, Wasi Siddiquee, Maruf Mridha
England: Ben McKinney (c), Luc Benkenstein (vc), Farhan Ahmed, Tazeem Ali, Charlie Allison, Charlie Barnard, Jack Carney, Jaydn Denly, Eddie Jack, Dominic Kelly, Sebastian Morgan, Haydon Mustard, Hamza Shaikh, Noah Thain, Theo Wylie
India: Arshin Kulkarni, Adarsh Singh, Rudra Mayur Patel, Sachin Dhas, Priyanshu Moliya, Musheer Khan, Uday Saharan (c), Aravelly Avanish Rao, Saumy Kumar Pandey (vc), Murugan Abhishek, Innesh Mahajan, Dhanush Gowda, Aaradhya Shukla, Raj Limbani and Naman Tiwari
Ireland: Philippe le Roux, Macdara Cosgrave, Harry Dyer, Daniel Forkin, Kian Hilton, Ryan Hunter, Finn Lutton, Scott Macbeth, Carson McCullough, John McNally, Jordan Neill, Oliver Riley, Gavin Roulston, Matthew Weldon, Reuben Wilson
Namibia: Alex Volschenk (c), Gerhard janse van Rensburg, Hansie de Villiers, JW Visagie, Ben Brassell, Jack Brassell, Henry van Wyk, Zacheo van Vuuren, Nico Pieters, Faf du Plessis, Woutie Niehaus, PD Blignaut, Hanro Badenhorst, Junior Kariata, Ryan Moffett
Nepal: Dev Khanal (c), Arjun Kumal, Aakash Tripathi, Dipak Prasad Dumre, Durgesh Gupta, Gulshan Kumar Jha, Dipesh Prasad Kandel, Bishal Bikram KC, Subhash Bhandari, Deepak Bohara, Dipak Bohara, Uttam Rangu Thapa Macar, Bipin Rawal, Tilak Raj Bhandari, Akash Chand
New Zealand: Oscar Jackson (c), Mason Clarke, Sam Clode, Zac Cumming, Rahman Hekmat, Tom Jones, James Nelson, Snehith Reddy, Matt Rowe, Ewald Schreuder, Lachlan Stackpole, Oliver Tewatiya, Alex Thompson, Ryan Tsourgas, Luke Watson
Pakistan: Saad Baig, Ali Asfand, Ali Raza, Ahmad Hassan, Amir Hassan, Arfat Minhas, Azan Awais, Haroon Arshad, Khubaib Khalil, Mohammad Zeeshan, Naveed Ahmed Khan, Shahzaib Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Muhammad Riazullah, Ubaid Shah
Scotland: Owen Gould, Uzair Ahmad, Harry Armstrong, Logan Briggs, Jamie Dunk, Bahadar Esakhiel, Ibrahim Faisal, Rory Grant, Adi Hegde, Mackenzie Jones, Farhan Khan, Qasim Khan, Nikhil Koteeswaran, Ruaridh McIntyre, Alec Price
South Africa: David Teeger, Esosa Aihevba, Juan James (c), Martin Khumalo, Kwena Maphaka, Dewan Marias, Riley Norton, Nqobani Mokoena, Romashan Pillay, Sipho Potsane, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Richard Seletswane, Oliver Whitehead, Steve Stolk, Ntando Zuma
Sri Lanka: Sineth Jayawardena (c), Pulindu Perera, Hirun Kapurubandara, Ravishan Nethsara, Rusanda Gamage, Sharujan Shanmuganathan, Dinura Kalupahana, Malsha Tharupathi, Vishva Lahiru, Garuka Sanketh, Duvindu Ranatunga, Ruvishan Perera, Supun Waduge, Vihas Thewmika, Vishen Halambage
USA: Amogh Arepally, Rayaan Bhagani, Aaryan Batra, Khush Bhalala, Prannav Chettipalayam, Arya Garg, Siddarth Kappa, Bhavya Mehta, Aarin Nadkarni, Manav Nayak, Parth Patel, Rishi Ramesh (c), Utkarsh Srivastava (vc), Ateendra Subramanian, Aryaman Suri
West Indies: Stephen Pascal, Nathan Sealy, Jewel Andrew, Mavendra Dindyal, Joshua Dorne, Nathan Edward, Tarrique Edward, Reon Edwards, Deshawn James, Jordan Johnson, Devonie Joseph, Raneico Smith, Isai Thorne, Steve Wedderburn, Adrian Weir
Zimbabwe: Matthew Schonken, Panashe Taruvinga, Nathaniel Hlabangana, Ronak Patel, Campbell MacMillan, Ryan Kamwemba, Brendon Sunguro, Calton Takawira, Anesu Kamuriwo, Newman Nyamhuri, Mashford Shungu, Kohl Eksteen, Panashe Gwatiringa, Shaun Dzakatira, Munashe Chimusoro
Durham's Ben McKinney will captain England [Stu Forster/Getty Images]
India are the favourites to capture the title, with odds of 7/4, followed by Australia (4/1), England (9/2) and Pakistan (15/2).
In the UK, the tournament will be shown on Sky Sports.
Supersport have the broadcast rights in South Africa.
Elsewhere, the U19 World Cup is available on Star Sports Network in India and can also be streamed via Disney+ Hotstar.
In Australia, Amazon have the rights to all ICC events for the next four years while in USA, WillowTV is the place to go.
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