U19 World Cup Prize Money: Why Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre and others won’t be rewarded by ICC despite title win

The Indian U-19 cricket team has been crowned champions of the world, beating the England U19 cricket team by 100 runs in the final held at the Harare Sports Club (HSC) in Harare, Zimbabwe, on February 6 (Friday). However, despite winning the title, courtesy of a great show by Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the Ayush Mhatre-led side will not get even a single penny as prize money from the International Cricket Council (ICC), the organisers of the tournament.

U19 World Cup 2026: Why will ICC not give any prize money to Indian team?

The ICC treats the U-19 World Cup as a development program for the mentorship of young cricketers, and hence it does not hand out prize money for teams. The idea behind that is the teams already receive a share of ICC revenues as a cricket development fund, and this tournament is considered cricket development; thus, rewardingthem  for the same again would mean a double reward.

Does this mean Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre’s side will get nothing?

No, the answer to this is obviously a big no. Indian teams that have won the tournament in the past have been rewarded greatly by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The last Indian team to win the title in 2022, led by Yash Dhull, received Rs 40 lakh per player and Rs 25 lakh per support staff from the BCCI. The Indian women’s U-19 team, which won the titles in 2023 and 2025, received Rs 5 crore as a combined pool for all players as well.

Thus, expecting rewards for the Mhatre side is a normal activity. And on expected lines, the BCCI did announce a cash reward on February 7 (Saturday).

Table: India U19 World Cup Victories & Confirmed BCCI Rewards