Sameer Minhas hit his second hundred of Under-19 Asia Cup 2025 in final
Opener cracked an unbeaten 177 against Malaysia in Pakistan's Group A opener
Brother of Arafat Minhas, left-arm spinner who has represented senior men's Pakistan team
The India Under-19 bowlers had not conceded any total in excess of 200 runs, leading up to the U19 Asia Cup final on Sunday (December 21, 2025). But Sameer Minhas ensured that Pakistan changed that in style, powering his side to a daunting 347-run total in the summit clash at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai.
Minhas smashed a superlative 172 runs off 113 deliveries, hitting 17 fours and nine towering sixes along the way. He almost single-handedly took the Shaheens to a dominant position in the high-voltage encounter.
Sameer Minhas' U19 Asia Cup Exploits
This was not the first time Minhas toyed with the opposition bowling in the continental tournament. The Pakistan Colts opener cracked an unbeaten 177 against Malaysia in his team's Group A opener and has been unstoppable since.
He scored 44 against UAE and then anchored his team's chase in the semi-final against Bangladesh, essaying an undefeated 69-run knock that guided Pakistan to an eight wicket win and into the title round. Minhas is the tournament's top-scorer by some distance, having amassed 471 runs from five games at a Bradmanesque average of 157 and excellent strike rate of 117.45.
Who Is Sameer Minhas?
The 19-year-old Minhas hails from Multan and apart from being a top-order batter, bowls part-time leg-spin. Sameer happens to be the younger brother of Arafat Minhas, the 20-year-old left-arm spinner who has represented the senior Pakistan men's team in T20 internationals.
Debuting at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, Arafat has played four T20Is and picked up four wickets, scored 60 runs for the Men In Green. He was part of the squad for 2024 World Cup and last played at the highest level in December 2024 against Zimbabwe, hitting an unbeaten 22 in a losing cause.
India Vs Pakistan, Under-19 Asia Cup Final: Playing XIs
India U19: Ayush Mhatre (c), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Aaron George, Vihaan Malhotra, Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Kanishk Chouhan, Henil Patel, Khilan Patel, Deepesh Devendran, Kishan Kumar Singh
Pakistan U19: Hamza Zahoor (wk), Sameer Minhas, Usman Khan, Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousaf (c), Huzaifa Ahsan, Niqab Shafiq, Mohammad Shayan, Ali Raza, Abdul Subhan, Mohammad Sayyam
