The opening day of the U19 Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai witnessed a flurry of records as bat dominated ball in two simultaneous fixtures. While India took on the UAE in one match, Pakistan faced Malaysia in another, with both games producing historic individual performances.
The day began with Indian batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi setting the tournament alight. Suryavanshi played a blistering knock of 171 runs against the UAE. His innings came off just 95 balls, featuring 9 boundaries and a staggering 14 sixes, clocking a strike rate of 180. At that moment, it seemed like a record that would stand for some time.
Record broken within hours
However, the record books were rewritten almost immediately in the concurrent fixture. Pakistan’s opening batter Sameer Minhas delivered a monumental performance against Malaysia, eclipsing Suryavanshi’s effort on the very same day.
Minhas anchored the innings with an unbeaten 177 runs off 148 balls. His marathon knock included 11 fours and 8 sixes. Although his strike rate of around 120 was lower than Suryavanshi’s explosive 180, his accumulation of runs proved superior.
With this innings, Minhas now holds the record for the highest individual score in the history of the U19 Asia Cup. He surpassed Suryavanshi’s 171-run mark just hours after it was established.
Historic achievement for Pakistan cricket
Beyond the tournament record, Minhas etched his name into Pakistan’s cricket history books. His 177 is now the highest score by any Pakistani batter in Youth ODI cricket. Previously, no Pakistani player had managed to cross the 160-run mark in U19 One Day Internationals.
This was Minhas’s debut Youth ODI match for Pakistan, making the achievement even more significant. He completely dismantled the Malaysian bowling attack, helping Pakistan post a massive total of 345 runs.
In response, the Malaysian team crumbled under pressure and was bowled out for a mere 48 runs. Pakistan secured a comprehensive victory by a massive margin of 297 runs.
Cricketing lineage
Sameer Minhas comes from a cricketing family. He is the younger brother of Arafat Minhas, a left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder. Arafat has represented the Pakistan U19 team and has also played four T20 Internationals for the senior national side. Notably, Arafat was part of the Pakistan squad for the T20 World Cup 2024.
