Pakistan All-Rounder Minhas Wins Series
The 21-year-old claimed nine wickets and 149 runs across the ODI tri-nation tournament, finishing with the player of the series award.
By Giulia Donovan ·
Arafat Minhas scored 61 runs off 31 balls in the final of the One-Day International tri-nation series to secure the trophy for Pakistan against Sri Lanka. The 21-year-old all-rounder finished the tournament with nine wickets and 149 runs, including two half-centuries. He also received the player of the series award.
Pakistan required 125 runs from 79 balls with five wickets down when Minhas joined Hasan Nawaz at the crease. The hosts trailed before Minhas struck a six off Dasun Shanaka to shift momentum. He followed that strike with four more sixes. The team won the match and the series.
Minhas stated that he enjoyed the pressure of the final run chase. He added that the team needed someone to believe they could achieve the target. Commentators on the host broadcast praised his performance.
Earlier in the series, Minhas posted a match-winning double performance against England in Rawalpindi on October 10. He scored 59 runs off 58 balls to help Pakistan recover from 81-4 and post 302-9. He then took six wickets for 40 runs as England were bowled out for 215. Pakistan won the match by 87 runs.
England was at 91 runs without loss before Minhas dismantled their batting lineup. Harry Brook, the England captain, was bowled for five runs by a delivery that turned past his defensive shot. Brook expressed surprise at Minhas's age after the match, stating he did not know the player was under 21.
Nasser Hussain, former England captain, noted that Minhas is a complete all-rounder. The performance made Minhas the third Pakistani to score a half-century and take at least five wickets in a men's ODI. He follows Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq in this statistic. On his ODI debut against Australia in May, Minhas took 5-32, becoming the first Pakistani to claim a five-wicket haul on debut.
Minhas began playing left-arm spin at age eight after his father, Kashif, handed him a leather ball. Kashif had played under-19 cricket for Multan but stopped to run the family car showroom. He built a rooftop practice facility in Multan in 2020 to continue training during pandemic lockdowns. Minhas's younger brother, Sameer, was added to Pakistan's Test squad for a series against Sri Lanka in November. Sameer scored 405 runs in seven first-class matches last week.
