India's performance in every edition of the Under-19 World Cup

The ICC Men's Under-19 World Cup 2026 will be the 16th edition of the biennial tournament which will be held from January 15 to February 6 in Zimbabwe and Namibia. This edition will consist of 16 teams divided into four groups. The format, however, has not been the same ever since the tournament was first played in 1988.

Over the years, the Under-19 World Cup has evolved with new teams being added and new structures being employed. India have been the most successful side having won the trophy five times in 15 editions followed by Australia who have won it on four occasions. Pakistan come next on the list with two trophies while England, West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh have won it once each.

Let us now take a look at how India have fared in all the instalments of the Under-19 World Cup -

1) 1988 (Group Stage)

The first edition was held in 1988 in Australia with eight teams which included an ICC Associates XI as well. Each team played against all the other teams once. India, which included the likes of Nayan Mongia, Venkatapathy Raju, Narendra Hirwani et al, began their campaign with a narrow win against England, but lost the next two matches to Australia and Pakistan. They won their next match against New Zealand but suffered another defeat against the West Indies.

India needed a boost to their challenge which came against the Associates XI. However, another substantial margin of defeat against Sri Lanka was enough to end their campaign. The team finished sixth on the points table. Meanwhile, Australia won this inaugural edition.

2) 1998 (Super Eights)

The second edition was held a decade later than the first one. The format changed from eight teams to 16, divided into four groups. India were placed in Pool C, which was named as Gavaskar Pool, with hosts South Africa, Kenya, and Scotland. The team started their campaign against South Africa who won the competitive contest. Subsequently, India registered big wins against Kenya and Scotland to advance to the Super Eights.

The team, which comprised Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, among others, found itself in Pool A with England, Australia, and Pakistan. India did not start well as they were beaten comfortably by Australia. England could not overcome India's target in a rain-hit match in Benoni while Pakistan were defeated in Durban in front of a record 10,000 strong crowd, the biggest of this instalment.

Despite the two victories India could not proceed as only the top team of the group advanced to the final directly. It was England who finished first in the group while India finished third. As a matter of fact, England were the winners of this edition.

3) 2000 (Winner)

The third edition was held in Sri Lanka and comprised 16 teams as well. The Indian squad included Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif who was the captain. The team was pooled in Group B with New Zealand, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands. India started their campaign with a big win against Bangladesh followed by a no result against the Netherlands and another win against New Zealand.

The team advanced to the Super League phase and was placed with Sri Lanka, England, and Nepal in Group 2. India finished as the topper in this group as well, beating all the teams with ease. They faced Australia in the semi-final which was a one-sided affair.

The final was held at the SSC in Colombo against the home team. India, on the back of a solid bowling performance and sensible batting, triumphed for the first time in the biennial tournament. Yuvraj Singh, for his 203 runs and 12 wickets, was adjudged as the Player of the Tournament.

4) 2002 (Semi-final)

The 2002 edition was held in New Zealand consisting of 16 teams again. India were grouped with South Africa, Bangladesh, and Canada. The team registered a huge 242-run win against Canada, followed by a 70-run win against South Africa. They, however, suffered a shock defeat against Bangladesh as the Tigers bowled their neighbours out for 77 in the first innings. India, nevertheless, topped the group.

India topped the Super League group as well with two comfortable wins against West Indies and Sri Lanka, and a defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan. The team, which included future India players such as Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel and Stuart Binny, succumbed to a big defeat against South Africa in the semi-final, thus putting an end to their strong campaign. Australia were the eventual winners of this edition.

5) 2004 (Semi-final)

The fifth edition was held in Bangladesh and a standard format comprising 16 teams was in place for this instalment as well. Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, among others, were part of the squad. India were placed in Group C with hosts Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Scotland, topping it with wins against all of them.

In the Super League, India were pooled in with Sri Lanka, South Africa, and the West Indies. The team suffered a narrow three-run loss in the first match against South Africa, but rebounded to defeat the other two teams comfortably. India topped the group on the basis of Net Run Rate.

The team faced Pakistan in the semi-final at the Bangabandhu National Stadium where their arch-rivals defeated them with ease by five wickets. The silver lining for the team was the performance of Shikhar Dhawan who was the highest run-scorer with 505 runs and was declared the Player of the Tournament as well. Meanwhile, Pakistan were the eventual winners.

6) 2006 (Final)

It was the second time that the tournament was being hosted by Sri Lanka. India were placed in Group C with the hosts, Namibia, and Scotland and completed a clean sweep defeating all the three teams by big margins.

This edition witnessed a quarter-final stage for the first time. India faced the West Indies in the second QF and beat them by a huge 126-run margin. The team advanced to the semi-final wherein they defeated the Moeen Ali-led England by a massive 234-run margin.

India came across Pakistan in the final and it was a memorable one for the Men in Green. After being bowled out for 109 it seemed like India would cruise to their second title but it was Pakistan who did so. An inspired bowling performance from Anwar Ali (5/35) helped Pakistan bowl out India for 71.

The Indian team comprised present-day great Virat Kohli who was the highest scorer in this edition with 349 runs. Other players who went on to play for India included Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, among others.

7) 2008 (Winner)

The seventh edition of the youth World Cup was held in Malaysia for the first time. The Kohli-led India found themselves in Group B with the West Indies, South Africa, and Papua New Guinea. It was another clean sweep for the Indians as they registered comfortable wins.

The team then met England in the quarter-final in which their bowlers set up a chase of 147 which was overcome with ease. The Indian youth faced the Kiwis in the semi-final and an all-round performance from captain Kohli (43, 2/27) helped the team win a tense game by three wickets (D/L method).

The Men in Blue locked horns with South Africa in the all-important final which was impacted by rain. Batting first, India were all out for 159 but the target for the Proteas was revised to 116 from 25 overs. The Indian bowlers took complete advantage of the conditions and restricted the opposition to 103 only, to win by 12 runs.

India lifted their second Under-19 World Cup title. Incidentally, left-handed batter Tanmay Srivastava emerged as the top-scorer of the tournament with 262 runs.

8) 2010 (Quarter-final, sixth place)

The tournament was held in New Zealand for the second time. India were grouped with England, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong. The team consisted of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and even now-USA pacer Saurabh Netravalkar, among others.

India suffered a defeat to England but registered big wins against the other two teams in the group. They then met Pakistan in the quarter-final wherein they suffered a narrow two-wicket loss. In the play-offs to decide the qualification for the fifth place encounter, India faced England again but this time pulled off a comfortable win by seven wickets.

Despite posting a competitive 236-run target for South Africa, the opposition overcame it in the penultimate over. India, thus, finished sixth while Australia lifted their third trophy.

9) 2012 (Winner)

The defending champions Australia were the hosts of this edition. India, led by Unmukt Chand, were pooled in with the West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Papua New Guinea. The team did not begin their campaign well as they lost to the Caribbean side by four wickets. However, they rebounded with wins against the remaining two teams.

India entered the quarter-final and found themselves clashing against Pakistan. The match went right down to the wire as India emerged victorious by just one wicket, chasing 137. It was another close encounter in the semi-final against New Zealand, winning it by nine runs.

The team set up the final encounter with Australia. A competitive contest ensued as Unmukt Chand's 111*(130) helped India win their third Under-19 title.

10) 2014 (Quarter-final, fifth place)

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted their first-ever Under-19 tournament. This time, India were grouped with Pakistan, Scotland, and Papua New Guinea. The contingent comprised captain Vijay Zol, Sanju Samson, Sarfaraz Khan, and Kuldeep Yadav, among others.

The junior Men in Blue started with a comfortable win against the junior Men in Green and swept the other two teams aside as well. India then faced England in the quarter-final. It was a competitive encounter but in the end the Englishmen prevailed by three wickets in the final over.

The team locked horns with Sri Lanka in the fifth place play-off semi-finals and dominated the game, ending up winning it by 76 runs. In the subsequent match for the fifth place, it was the West Indies who stood before India. The team put up a big total of 340 runs which proved to be too much for the Caribbeans. The team, ultimately, finished fifth. As a matter of fact, South Africa won the final and lifted their first Under-19 trophy.

11) 2016 (Runners-up)

Bangladesh hosted their second Under-19 World Cup with India coming into it with the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Sarfaraz Khan, among others. The team completed a clean sweep in the group stages, defeating New Zealand, Nepal, and Ireland.

They clashed with Namibia in the quarter-final, annihilating the African side by 197 runs. The semi-final witnessed the Kishan-led side overcoming the Sri Lankan challenge with ease before setting up a date with the West Indies.

The final was a low-scoring encounter as India were able to put 145 runs on the board only. The Caribbeans found it difficult to score runs as the match went down to the final over where the junior Men in Maroon prevailed to win their first title.

12) 2018 (Winner)

New Zealand were the hosts of the tournament for the third time. India boasted a number of present-day star players such as Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, and Prithvi Shaw who captained the side. The team began the group stage with a 100-run win against Australia followed by 10-wicket wins against Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe each.

India faced Bangladesh in the quarter-final and registered another huge win by 131 runs. They met their arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final where the latter were bowled out for a mere 69 chasing 273. The team locked horns with Australia in the final once again where they chased down a competitive-looking 217-run target with ease, thus winning their fourth Under-19 title.

Incidentally, India were coached by former great Rahul Dravid. Gill finished as the second-highest run-scorer (372) while slow left-arm spinner Anukul Roy ended up as joint-highest wicket-taker (14).

13) 2020 (Runners-up)

The tournament returned to South Africa after 1998. The Indian squad consisted of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel, among others. It was another clean sweep in the group stages as India registered substantial win margins against Sri Lanka, Japan, and New Zealand.

The quarter-final witnessed another India vs Australia clash and it was again the junior Men in Blue who triumphed comfortably. The team met Pakistan in the semi-final again this time around and the result was the same and achieved in a similar manner, a win by 10 wickets.

The final was a subcontinental clash - India vs Bangladesh. The Tigers tamed the Indians to win the match fairly comfortably in the end, thus winning their first-ever Under 19 title. As a matter of fact, Jaiswal finished as the top run-getter (400) and Ravi Bishnoi as the highest wicket-taker (17).

14) 2022 (Winner)

West Indies hosted the tournament for the first time. India, which consisted of players such as Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Nishant Sindhu, captain Yash Dhull, completed a clean sweep in the group stage, beating South Africa, Uganda, and Ireland comfortably.

The team then met defending champions Bangladesh against whom they registered a dominating win this time. In the semi-final, India faced their age-old rivals Australia and defeated them by a 96-run margin.

The final against England was a competitive affair. Though the Englishmen posted only 189 it took India a considerable amount of effort to overcome it. The team won its fifth Under-19 title. Incidentally, there was no player from the team who finished in the top three of the runs and wickets lists which actually goes to show it was a complete team effort.

15) 2024 (Runners-up)

South Africa hosted their third Under-19 World Cup after original hosts Sri Lanka were suspended by the ICC. India were grouped with Bangladesh, Ireland, and the USA and defeated all of them with utmost ease.

Instead of a quarter-final or Super Eights, this edition comprised Super 6 wherein 12 teams were grouped into two pools. Two of those were the same teams from India's group. Meanwhile, the team completed a clean sweep here as well as they beat New Zealand and Nepal by big margins.

India faced South Africa in the semi-final where a tense encounter witnessed the former winning by two wickets in the penultimate over. They met Australia in the final and this time around the Aussies triumphed over India, that too comfortably by 79 runs. Notably, the junior Men in Yellow won their fourth Under-19 trophy.