Arafat Minhas turned a tri-series final into a selection argument. Pakistan, chasing 326 against Sri Lanka in Lahore, needed late power, and the 21-year-old supplied it with 61 off 31 balls from the sixth spot before the hosts got home at 331/7 with nine balls remaining. He went wicketless with the ball, yet he still collected the Player of the Series award after taking nine wickets and scoring 149 runs. The real question is how much that tells selectors about next year.
Lahore saw Pakistan edge Sri Lanka by three wickets on 31 October, a result that handed them their first trophy of this kind since 2008. Fakhar Zaman made 127 off 99 balls and collected the match award, yet the finish owed plenty to Minhas, who changed the tempo when the target still looked demanding.
At 230/5 he came to the crease as the sixth batter, and his 61 came from just 31 balls, scoring at 196.77 per hundred, before he fell at 324/6. His bowling told a different tale: 10 overs for 64 runs and no wicket, an economy rate of 6.40. The award recognised the whole tournament, which brought him 149 runs and nine wickets.
His case is built on match-winning moments. Facing Australia in May, in his debut series, he claimed 5/32 and won the series award. On 20 October, he hit 59 from 58 balls and then took 6/40, which helped Pakistan beat England by 87 runs. Only Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq had previously managed a fifty and a five-wicket haul in the same ODI for the country.
Caution is still wise, because the sample is small. Going into this tournament, he had three ODIs behind him, with 60 runs and seven wickets. The table below shows that eight of his nine wickets came against England, while 120 of his 149 runs arrived in just two innings.
vs Sri Lanka (Opener) (Oct 18, Rawalpindi)
vs England (1st Match) (Oct 20, Rawalpindi)
vs England (2nd Match) (Oct 24, Lahore)
vs Sri Lanka (3rd Match) (Oct 26, Lahore)
Final vs Sri Lanka (Oct 31, Lahore)
The youngster from Multan, aged 21, bowls left-arm spin and bats left-handed. Fakhar suggested before the tri-series that World Cup planning was always in the back of the squad’s minds and that combinations would be tested, because the team had gone a long time without ODI cricket.
A batter capable of making 61 off 31 at number six while also bowling a full quota gives selectors flexibility without forcing them to drop a specialist. The 64 conceded in the final shows what that flexibility can cost.
On the ICC all-rounder list of 21 October, Salman Ali Agha stood 14th with 186 points, followed by Shaheen Shah Afridi in 17th place on 170, while Shadab Khan stood at 67th, one place above Minhas, who sat 68th on 108 points after climbing 89 places, the biggest climb of any Pakistani all-rounder.
Mohammad Nawaz sat further back in 86th. In the bowlers’ list alone, Minhas was 83rd with 411 points. He remains behind the leaders in every table, yet he has featured in far fewer games than they have, which makes the climb more notable.
Time is not on Pakistan’s side. Mohammad Hafeez noted before the tri-series that just ten ODIs were on the calendar ahead of the next global event. A five-match tour of England is set for 15 to 26 May, and the tournament runs between 4 October and 21 November 2027, hosted across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Selectors should use Minhas against set batters in the middle overs and bat him at six when Pakistan are defending a total, not just chasing one. Those answers will decide whether the Arafat Minhas Pakistan ODI World Cup 2027 story ends in selection or in a missed chance.
Should Minhas be a certain starter at number six, or are three previous ODIs too small a sample? Tell us in the comments.
Arafat Minhas is an all-rounder from Multan, aged 21, who bowls left-arm spin. He made his ODI debut on 30 May 2026 and has since won two Player of the Series awards, one against Australia and one in this tri-series.
Who won Player of the Series in the Pakistan tri-series?
Arafat Minhas took the award. He finished with 149 runs and nine wickets, including a rapid 61 from 31 balls in the final against Sri Lanka.
What did Minhas score in the final?
He scored 61 off 31 balls batting at number six. The innings came at 196.77 per hundred balls and helped Pakistan chase 326 against Sri Lanka with nine balls to spare.
It is scheduled for 4 October through 21 November 2027. South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will host the tournament, and Pakistan has only ten ODIs scheduled before it begins.
Which Pakistan players are ranked as ODI all-rounders by the ICC?
Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Minhas, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Salman Ali Agha all appear. Salman Ali Agha is the highest in the group, ranked 14th on the 21 October list.
