Arafat Minhas

Arafat Minhas (born 2 January 2005) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Pakistan cricket team and Multan Sultans. An all-rounder, Minhas is a left-handed batsman who bowls left arm orthodox.

Early career Minhas was born in Multan, Punjab, into a Punjabi 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.

Youth career Minhas has played for the Pakistan under-19 team.

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.

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.

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

He was then named in the squad for the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. 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. 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.) During the tournament, Minhas took 8 wickets at an average of 9.87 while he also scored 105 runs at an average of 21.

Domestic career Minhas captained Gwadar Sharks in the 2022 Pakistan Junior League and was named in the team of the tournament as captain. Minhas made his List A debut for Southern Punjab against Sindh on 10 December 2022 during the 2022–23 Pakistan Cup. Minhas was selected by Multan Sultans in the supplementary category during the 2023 Pakistan Super League players draft. He was selected by Karachi Kings in the silver category during the 2024 Pakistan Super League players draft.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

On 30 May 2026, he made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Australia in the 1st match of the home series. With bowling figures of 5/32 in 10 overs, most of the wickets being top and middle-order batsmen, and reducing Australia to 200, he became the first spinner as well the first Pakistan bowler to take five wickets on ODI debut and was declared Player of the Match, as Pakistan won the match. He was later declared Player of the Series for his all-round performance in the three matches.