Pakistan’s Under-19 team has made the nation proud by clinching the ACC Men’s Asia Cup in Dubai, defeating arch-rivals India in emphatic fashion.
The commanding 191-run victory not only underlined the dominance and resilience of Pakistan’s young cricketers but also highlighted the depth of emerging talent that augurs well for the South Asian country’s cricketing future.
More admirable is the fact that Pakistan juniors hit back in the final after losing the group stage match to the same bitter opponents by 90 runs. The come-from-behind victory reminded the nation of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, where Pakistan avenged their group game defeat of 124 runs by a big 180-run margin in the final to crown champions.
As Douglas Jardine, the England skipper who architected the “Body Line” strategy against Australia in 1932-33, famously wrote, “cricket is a game of skill. It is also a game of war. You must find a way to win, or you are lost.” Pakistan found a way to win and win big. That effort defines their U-19 Asia Cup campaign.
This becomes Pakistan’s back-to-back victories at the Asian level. A month ago, our rising stars lifted the Rising Star Asia Cup title in Doha, Qatar, en route to beating India in the Group game. The twin wins proved Pakistan have talent which is coming to the fore and belying the concept that we lack talent in cricket.
The whole nation celebrated the triumph as such achievements lift the nation. Cricket is one game which unites our nation. The Under-19 team was accorded a warm welcome at the Islamabad airport early on Monday and were invited and honoured by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in a befitting manner.
PM Sharif looked elated and announced a big ten-million-rupee cash bonanza to each player of the team and 2.5 million each for the coaching staff.
Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi has also promised five million rupees to each player. These incentives and awards will further lift the morale of the players who are now on their way to compete in the ICC Under-19 World Cup.
Pakistan have not won the ICC Under-19 World Cup since their back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2006.
As they say, all wins in sports are achieved through a process. Despite several changes in the hierarchy of the PCB, the process introduced in 2019 – Catch them Young – continued in Naqvi’s ear as well.
PCB wisely appointed former captain Azhar Ali as the head of youth development and his work in grooming the players was the second step. Naqvi then brought another former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed as mentor of the Under-19 team.
It was a smart mover as Sarfaraz was the captain of the 2006 Junior World Cup winning team as well as of the 2017 Champions Trophy triumph. His storytelling of these achievements emboldened and inspired these youngsters.
If you speak to Sarfaraz, you are bound to get impressed with his knowledge of the game and his spotting the talent. Combined with a good and able head coach Shahid Anwar the duo inspired the team and prepared them for the two challenges – Asia Cup and the World Cup.
Talking of Pakistan’s performers in the Asian Cup win, batter Sameer Minhas led the way. Sameer batted like a JF-17 Thunder as our military struck India in May, demolishing their much-vaunted French-made Rafales in response to Indian military aggression.
Sameer smashed 17 boundaries and nine towering sixes, which put Indian bowlers into submission. He has a pedigree as his brother Arafat has played four T20Is for Pakistan and is a future star in the making.
This innings, that too in a high-pressure final, proves that Sameer can match his elder brother and can go places. Sameer went on to clinch the player of the tournament award with 471 runs.
As always, Pakistan’s pace bulldozed India’s fancied batting, in which two of their players Vaibhav Suriyavanshi and captain Ayush Mhatre have played in their lucrative Indian Premier League.
Rising star Ali Raza grabbed four wickets while Abdul Subhan and Mohammad Sayyam fetched two each. This pace trio has the potency to hit the best of batting units and they showed that prowess in the final.
Wise people say, “Success is not what you are, it is what you have.” Pakistan now has a group of talented players after the two wins. It is now the job of PCB to groom and develop these players.
The future is bright; these two wins tell us. But besides keeping our fingers crossed, we need to use our fingers, mind and heart to the best effect. Cricket can further bring glory to the country; glories we badly need.
