Tokyo, Dec 10 (IANS) Kazuma Kato-Stafford has been named as Japan’s captain for the 2026 Men’s Under-19 World Cup, scheduled to be played in Namibia and Zimbabwe from January 15 to February 6.

Nikhil Pol and Timothy Moore, who missed the recent Asian Cricket Council Premier Cup for Japan in Ajman, have both returned to the squad for the mega event. In that tournament, Japan defeated Maldives and Qatar by 183 runs, but a loss to Oman denied them a semi-final berth.

Among the standout performers, Nihar Parmar, who struck 156 off 132 balls against Maldives, and Kaisei Kobayashi-Doggett, who hammered 106 off 73 deliveries against Qatar, are named in the World Cup squad.

Reo Sakurano-Thomas, an active senior men’s international cricketer, has been appointed as U19 side head coach. Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming, captain of Japan’s senior men’s side, will serve as assistant coach.

Japan are drawn in Group C of the tournament alongside Sri Lanka, defending champions Australia, and Ireland. The team will depart for South Africa on January 5 to play warm up matches against Tanzania and the West Indies on January 10 and 12, respectively.

This will be the second appearance for Japan after first featuring in the U19 World Cup held in South Africa in 2020. The 16th edition of the Men’s Under-19 World Cup will feature 16 teams divided into four groups of four each. Every side will play the other three teams in its group during the opening round, with the top three progressing to the Super Six stage.

The leading four teams from there will qualify for the semi-finals to be played on February 3 and 4 in Bulawayo and Harare, while the final is scheduled to be played at the Harare Sports Club on February 6.

Japan squad: Charles Hara-Hinze, Gabriel Hara-Hinze, Montgomery Hara-Hinze, Kazuma Kato-Stafford (Captain), Kaisei Kobayashi-Doggett, Timothy Moore, Skyler Nakayama-Cook, Ryuki Ozeki, Nihar Parmar, Nikhil Pol, Chihaya Sekine, Hugo Tani-Kelly, Sandev Aaryan Waduge, Kai Wall and Taylor Waugh

–IANS

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