Uttar Pradesh batsman Priyam Garg will lead defending champions India in next year's Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup to be held in South Africa.

The All-India Junior Selection Committee, which met in Mumbai yesterday, picked the squad for the tournament to be held from 17th January to 9th February next year.

The 19-year-old Garg, a right handed top-order batsman, has a first-class double hundred and a List 'A' century to his name.

The 13th edition of the U-19 World Cup will be played among 16 teams, split into four groups.

 India are placed in Group 'A' with first-time qualifier Japan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super League stage.

Ahead of the World Cup, the India U-19 team will travel to South Africa for three one-day matches against the Proteas U-19 side, followed by a Quadrangular Series featuring South Africa U-19, India U-19, Zimbabwe U-19 and New Zealand U-19.

Indian squad for U-19 World Cup: Priyam Garg (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain & wk), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil.

India U-19 squad for the tour of South Africa: Priyam Garg (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain & wk), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil, CTL Rakshan.