BCCI unveils massive reward for U19 World Cup champions, announces prize money worth crores
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The world witnessed India's dominance in junior cricket once again. India, the most successful Under-19 cricket team, has once again made history by becoming world champions. Under the captaincy of Ayush Mhatre, the Indian team won the ICC Men's Under-19 World Cup 2026 in Zimbabwe. With this, Team India became champions of this prestigious tournament for a record sixth time.
Following this historic success, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) generously announced a reward of ₹7.5 crore for the entire team. This is the largest prize money ever given by the BCCI at the Under-19 level.
India defeated England by 100 runs in the final match played in Harare on Friday, February 6th to win the title. India previously defeated England to win the Under-19 World Cup in 2022. However, as per ICC policy, no cash prizes are awarded to any team at the Under-19 level, and players are only awarded medals, as this tournament is organized to develop young players.
Although the ICC didn't provide any monetary reward, the BCCI, maintaining its tradition, honored the world champion team. On Saturday, February 7th, the day after the title win, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia declared Team India's achievement a proud moment for the entire country and announced a prize money of ₹7.5 crore. Previously, the BCCI awarded ₹5 crore to the Indian team that won the 2025 Under-19 Women's World Cup.
Speaking of the final, India, batting first, posted a mammoth total of 411 runs. The hero of this impressive performance was 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi. After missing out on a century three times throughout the tournament, Vaibhav proved his mettle on the grand stage of the final. He played an explosive and record-breaking innings of 175 runs in just 80 balls, including 15 fours and 15 sixes.
This target proved extremely challenging for England. Despite a century from Caleb Faulkner, the English team was bowled out for 311. Vaibhav Suryavanshi was named Player of the Match for his impressive performance in the final, and he also received the Player of the Series award for scoring 439 runs in the tournament.