Arafat Minhas

Arafat Minhas (Urdu: عرفات منہاس; born 2 January 2005) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Pakistan cricket team and Karachi Kings.^[1][2] Minhas bowls left arm orthodox .

Arafat Minhas

Personal information
Born	(2005-01-02) 2 January 2005 (age 20) Multan, Punjab, Pakistan
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Slow left-arm orthodox
Role	All-Rounder
International information
National side	Pakistan (2023–present)
T20I debut (cap 104)	3 October 2023 v Hong Kong
Last T20I	5 December 2024 v Zimbabwe
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2022/23	Southern Punjab
2023	Multan Sultans (squad no. 66)
2024-present	Karachi Kings (squad no. 23)
Career statistics
Competition T20I FC LA T20 Matches 4 5 19 21 Runs scored 60 257 426 274 Batting average 30.00 28.55 28.40 22.83 100s/50s 0/0 0/2 0/3 0/0 Top score 25 71 82 41 Balls bowled 72 438 686 372 Wickets 4 9 18 14 Bowling average 15.50 35.77 29.44 30.00 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 2/11 3/36 4/34 2/11 Catches/stumpings 1/– 3/– 8/– 11/–
Source: Cricinfo, 21 April 2025

Early career

Minhas was born in Multan, Punjab, into a Muslim Rajput family of the Minhas clan to Kashif Minhas, a former Under-19 cricketer. Minhas considers his father to be his role model and also admires AB de Villiers. He began to play red-ball club-level cricket at the age of 9 and went on to play Under-13 and Under-16 cricket. In Under-19 cricket he was adjudged player of the tournament in the National Under-19 Championship 2021/22.^[3]

Youth career

Minhas has played for the Pakistan under-19 team.^[4]

On 15 May 2023, in the 5th and final Youth ODI during the Pakistan U19 tour of Bangladesh, Minhas scored 40 off 42 before taking 3 wickets for 20 runs in 7.3 overs (including a maiden over), with an economy rate of 2.66. He was also responsible for the run out of Mohammad Shihab James, Bangladesh's top scorer in the match.^[5]

On 24 October 2023, in the 2nd Youth ODI in Karachi against Sri Lanka U19, Minhas was named Player of the Match for his all-round contribution: he hit 95 off 66 deliveries (nine fours, two sixes) followed by an economical spell with the ball, conceding only 21 runs in 10 overs.^[6]

In December 2023, Minhas was included in the squad for the 2023 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup and was named vice-captain.^[7]

He was then named in the squad for the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.^[8] On 27 January 2024, in a group match against New Zealand U19, Minhas was noted for his bowling figures, as he got 3 wickets for 6 runs in 5 overs, with an economy rate of 1.20.^[9] On 8 February 2024, in the semi-final against Australia U19, who would later go on to win the trophy, Minhas was the joint top-scorer with 52 and later took 2 wickets for 20 runs in 10 overs, with an economy rate of 2. As a batsman he was noted for being attacking while his bowling "brought Pakistan into the game." In what has been described as a thrilling match, Pakistan eventually lost it by 1 wicket (with 5 balls remaining.)^[10] During the tournament, Minhas took 8 wickets at an average of 9.87 while he also scored 105 runs at an average of 21.^[11]

Domestic career

Minhas captained Gwadar Sharks in the 2022 Pakistan Junior League and was named in the team of the tournament as captain.^[12][13][14] Minhas made his List A debut for Southern Punjab against Sindh on 10 December 2022 during the 2022–23 Pakistan Cup.^[15] Minhas was selected by Multan Sultans in the supplementary category during the 2023 Pakistan Super League players draft.^[16][17] He was selected by Karachi Kings in the silver category during the 2024 Pakistan Super League players draft.^[18][19]

International career

In December 2022, Minhas was among the "three high-performing teenagers" added the Pakistani Test squad along with Mohammad Zeeshan and Basit Ali by the interim selection committee.^[20][21]

In August 2023, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2022 Asian Games. On 3 October 2023, Minhas made his T20I debut for Pakistan against Hong Kong during the Asian Games. He hit 25 off 16 deliveries and later took 2 wickets for 19 runs, with an economy rate of 4.75.^[22][23]

On 19 October 2024, playing for Pakistan Shaheens against India A during the 2024 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, Minhas hit a rapid 41 off 29 deliveries with the bat but then was dismissed in a controversial umpiring decision, which some observers say impacted the outcome of the match, Pakistan losing by a mere 7 runs.^[24]

On 5 December 2024, in the 3rd T20I of the tour of Zimbabwe, Minhas hit 22 in a low scoring game and then bowled 4 overs for 17 runs, while he took no wickets he had the best economy rate among Pakistan bowlers (4.25), in a match that Pakistan lost by 2 wickets (with 1 ball remaining.)^[25]