Arafat Minhas helped Pakistan recover from a precarious chase to beat Sri Lanka in the ODI tri-nation series final in Lahore on Saturday, strengthening his reputation as a young player capable of deciding matches with both bat and ball. His 61 from 31 deliveries helped secure the trophy and earned him the player of the series award.
Pakistan had lost five wickets and still needed 125 runs from 79 balls when the 21-year-old joined Hasan Nawaz at Gaddafi Stadium. Having finished Sri Lanka’s innings without a wicket, Minhas made his contribution under the floodlights with the bat. With 39 required from 27 deliveries, he struck Dasun Shanaka over midwicket for six, then added four more sixes as Pakistan completed the chase.
Minhas finished the tournament with 149 runs, including two half-centuries, and nine wickets. Afterwards, he said he had “enjoyed the pressure” and sought to stay calm. His performance in the final followed another influential display against England in Rawalpindi on October 10, when he helped Pakistan win by 87 runs.
Against England, Minhas scored 59 from 58 balls as Pakistan recovered from 81-4 to reach 302-9. He then claimed six wickets for 40 runs, breaking through after England’s openers had taken their side to 91 without loss. England were eventually dismissed for 215. Captain Harry Brook was among Minhas’s victims, bowled for five by a turning delivery that beat his defensive shot.
That performance put Minhas alongside Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq as the only Pakistan players to score a half-century and take at least five wickets in the same men’s ODI. He had already made an impression on his ODI debut against Australia in May, taking 5-32 to become Pakistan’s first player with a five-wicket haul on debut and receiving the player of the series award. Speaking to the Pakistan Cricket Board, he said: “I’d rather be seen as a complete all-rounder.”
His development began with guidance from his father, Kashif, who directed him towards left-arm spin when he was about eight, despite his interest in fast bowling. Kashif had played under-19 cricket for Multan before his own father urged him to leave the sport and join the family’s car showroom business. Later, seeing promise in his sons as they played with toy eggs and plastic balls, he bought them cricket equipment.
When pandemic restrictions threatened to disrupt training in 2020, Kashif installed nets, a mat pitch and floodlights on the roof of the family home in Multan. Minhas progressed through Pakistan’s youth teams and played an important part in the side that reached the 2024 Under-19 World Cup semifinals, where Australia won by one wicket.
His younger brother Sameer, a right-handed opening batter, was selected last week for Pakistan’s Test squad for November’s two-match series against Sri Lanka. In his first season of first-class cricket, Sameer scored 405 runs in seven matches. The youngest brother, Abdullah, is developing as a left-handed batter and leg-spinner.
Minhas says he intends to keep improving and putting in the work needed to progress beyond his early achievements. For Kashif, the ambition is shared across the family: to see all three sons in Pakistan’s playing XI together and bring home an ICC trophy.
