India National Under-19 Cricket Team vs Afghanistan National Under-19 Cricket Team Match: Afghanistan were awarded five penalty runs during their ICC Under-19 World Cup 2026 semifinal against India at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday after the ball hit a helmet left on the field by the Indian team. The incident took place on the final ball of the 17th over of Afghanistan’s innings. India fast bowler Deepesh Devendran delivered the ball to batter Faisal Shinozada, who attempted a leg-side shot but failed to make contact. Wicketkeeper Abhigyan Kundu could not collect the ball, which then hit a helmet lying on the ground behind him.

Why Afghanistan Awarded 5 Penalty Runs?

Under Law 28.3.2 of the MCC Laws of Cricket, five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side if the ball hits a helmet belonging to the fielding team that has been placed on the ground. The law also states that any runs completed before the ball hits the helmet, along with the run in progress if the batters had crossed, are added to the total. In this case, no boundary byes were given as the ball was declared dead the moment it struck the helmet.

Earlier, Afghanistan Under-19 won the toss and chose to bat against India Under-19 in the second semifinal of the tournament. The winner of the match will face England Under-19 in the final. England defeated Australia by 27 runs in the first semifinal on Tuesday.

IND U19 vs AFG U19 Playing XIs

 Afghanistan Under-19 Playing XI: Osman Sadat, Khalid Ahmadzai, Faisal Shinozada, Uzairullah Niazai, Mahboob Khan (wk/c), Azizullah Miakhil, Abdul Aziz, Khatir Stanikzai, Roohullah Arab, Nooristani Omarzai, Wahidullah Zadran.

India Under-19 Playing XI: Aaron George, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre (c), Vedant Trivedi, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Deepesh Devendran.