Pakistan's Sameer Minhas sets sights on more than one trophy at U-19 World Cup

Perhaps no Pakistan cricketer carries as much cultural cache in this moment as their Under-19 opener Sameer Minhas. A waifish 19-year-old, Minhas has spent the last month becoming a household name among Pakistan's cricket-crazed public, and established himself as their great hope at the U-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

He's in extraordinarily good form and is among the hottest tickets in the tournament. In the recent tri-series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, he scored two centuries, as well as 56 and 48, finishing as the Player of the Tournament and its highest scorer. This sequence came after his stunning showing at the Youth Asia Cup, where his form culminated in the best innings of a young career - a 113-ball 172 against India in the final, as Pakistan romped to a 191-run win.

In the first warm-up game at the World Cup against the USA, Minhas was retired out on 74, his form showing no signs of abating. And his goal is clear.

"We're aiming to win the World Cup," Minhas told the PCB website. "Our practice is going well and we have clarity in our mind about this. We've set up camps for the last five or six months, the same guys. Our unity and bonding is great, which put us in good stead during the Asia Cup."

During the tournament, Minhas - who calls AB de Villiers his favourite player - watched footage of himself to internalise the belief he could carry it into the biggest games.

"Against India, the plan was to play my natural game," he said about his hundred in the final. "We were encouraged to play fearless but not careless cricket. We started with a couple of boundaries from Hamza, and the great start put the opposition under pressure. We didn't imagine our welcome back home would be so grand, but we were very happy people came to meet and congratulate us. We won our first Asia Cup U-19 title. It was great fun and we really enjoyed it.

"The celebrations didn't stop for a couple of days, both at the ground and at the hotel. I never thought about breaking records, I just wanted to contribute to the team. The ball was coming onto the bat, and I was being positive without making any rash decisions. My shots were going through the gaps. I got to fifty pretty quickly and then I began thinking about a hundred, but I wasn't thinking about breaking records."

If the surname sounds familiar, it's because his brother, Arafat, is already an international cricketer. He made his debut for Pakistan at 19 during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, before playing a T20I for Pakistan in Zimbabwe.

"My brother Arafat has represented Pakistan, and watching that was inspiring. He enjoys himself and gives his all in the field, and I was keen to learn from him."

While his brother's skillset is vastly different from Sameer's - Arafat is a slow left-arm bowler - the two cut their teeth on the wet tiles of their family home, gently encouraged by a watchful dad who saw how serious - and skilled - his sons were.

"We used to play at home, street and gully cricket. My brother and I would water tiles and play tape-ball cricket in our home. When dad saw we enjoyed our cricket, he encouraged us to play with a hard ball. My brother began playing with it, and then, I did.

"I represented U-13 from Multan, and then South Punjab, and we got to the final. We got to U-16 - where I played with my brother, where I did well. When I got into the U-19, I didn't have a great first year, but this year I scored over 400 runs, and I was named in the Pakistan Under-19 squad.

"Because I started at the grassroots level, I learned my technique and the basics well."

Those basics are holding him in good stead as he gears up for the biggest tournament in his brief career. In Pakistan, where every upcoming talent is only valued as a function of what value they can provide to the senior men's side, a breakout performance at this World Cup will soon set tongues wagging about a senior call-up. As such, this might represent Minhas' last chance to play a tournament unfiltered from the overbearing lens of that gaze.

However, this does not stop him from making public how high he's set the bar for himself: "The personal goal I have at the World Cup is to be Player of the Tournament, like I was at the Asia Cup and the Zimbabwe series. We've adapted to conditions here well. The team is very balanced, we bat deep, and we've got many bowling options.

"We are confident."