India were battered by a strong Sameer Minhas and extra players to suffer a massive 191-run loss to Pakistan in a one-sided U-19 Asia Cup final in Dubai on Sunday.
Pakistan won their second Under-19 Asian Cup and, as is now common practice, there were no official greetings between players from the two teams.
After Pakistan posted a mammoth 347 for eight, powered by Minhas’ 172 (113b, 17×4, 9×6), India needed a desperate run to clinch their ninth title of the tournament.
But Pakistan’s high pace trio – Ali Reza (4/42), Mohammad Sayyam (2/38) and Abdul Subhan (2/29) – rushed to their top order with successive tough lengths as India folded for 156 in 26.2 overs.
However, India’s chase began on an explosive note despite the early loss of Ayush Mhatre. Vaibhav Suryavanshi hit Raza for two sixes and a four for 21 runs in the first over. Aaron George too started brightly, caressing Saiyam for three straight fours in the fourth over as India were bowled out of the block with 10 runs in the over.
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But the tide of the game changed on the last ball of the fourth over. Sayyam pushed George into the pull and all he could do was feed a short ball to Mohammad Shayan inside the circle.
In the first ball of the fifth over, India were hit on the body by the dismissal of Suryavanshi. The left-hander attempted a full-blooded delivery from Raza, but a good length ball with extra bounce hit the edge of the opener’s bat and landed in the gloves of stumper Zahoor Hamza.
The Raza and Pakistan fielders celebrated wildly and they exchanged a few words before Suryavanshi walked away dejected.
India fell from 49 for one ball to 49 for three in two balls and that was just the beginning. Vedant Trivedi and Kanishk Chouhan too went into a snort as the Pakistani pacers made the flat ICC Academy pitch look like the Road of Bones.
India’s last hope, however faint, was the presence of Abhigyan Kundu, and a fall in the 12th over from Subhan hinted at a possible turn of fortune. But all such hopes were dashed when Kundu’s uppercut two balls later after his reprieve found Nikab Shafiq at third man.
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Earlier, Pakistan opener Minhas made a brilliant century as Pakistan achieved a huge total.
Minhas, the younger brother of Pakistan T20I pacer Arafat, went after every Indian bowler but was particularly harsh on opener bowlers Kishan Singh and Deepesh Devendran.
Minhas scored his century with 71 balls and a four in the 29th over over Devendran. It was Minhas’ second hundred in the competition, having scored an unbeaten 177 against Malaysia in the opening group match.
Minhas’ six in the 28th over, where he kicked Mhatre’s ball high into the air deep into mid-wicket, had class written all over it. The 19-year-old looked set for a double century but was fooled by Devendran’s slower delivery (3/83) and was caught at mid-on.
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Pakistan’s batting progressed smoothly despite the early departure of Hamza Zahoor (18). Zahoor’s dismissal brought in Usman Khan (35) and he and Minhas took the total to 123, a partnership that produced 92 runs.
Left-hander Ahmed Hussain, who also showed excellent form in the tournament with a century and a fifty, hit a fine 56 before left-arm spinner Hilan Patel (2/44) induced the middle-order batter to play a false sweep and caught the ball at mid-wicket.
His 137-run partnership with Minhas provided an opportunity for Pakistan to score big.
Published December 21, 2025