History. Closure. And a new chapter. Pakistan U-19 lift the Asia Cup for the second time. But this one is special. Sole winners. No sharing. No ties. After 2012, they now stand alone. A tournament of talent. A final of authority. Young India will learn. They always do. Pakistan will celebrate. Theyâve earned it. The U-19 Asia Cup ends with green ribbons, roaring celebrations, and a reminder⊠the future of Asian cricket is not just bright. Itâs fiercely competitive.
Until then, I am Dev Rajawat, signing off, along with my co-commentator, Pritam Dey, and scorer Dushyant Madhukar Kumar. Thatâs it from our side. Thanks for joining. But cricket doesnât sleep. Plenty is happening around the world. Switch tabs, follow the fun. Goodbye from this tab! TAKE CARE! BREATHE AND SMILE! CIAO!
And then came the moment they had dreamt of. The lights. The stage. The silverware. As Mohsin Naqvi, the Chairman of the ACC, handed over the WINNERS Trophy to Pakistan U-19 captain Farhan Yousaf, the smiles said everything. What does a title look like? It looks like young boys jumping behind the WINNERS board. Arms around shoulders. Fists in the air. Laughter. Relief. Pride. The entire support staff joined in, with Sarfaraz Ahmed standing there, beaming, soaking in a night that belonged to Pakistan cricketâs future. Cameras flashed. Cheers echoed. This wasnât just a trophy lift. It was a statement. A team united. A nation proud. And a generation announcing itself to Asia.
Farhan Yousaf (Pakistan U-19 Captain): "Thank you. Yes, we were actually happy to lose the toss because our plan was always to bat first. The approach was clear.
Sameer Minhas has been batting really well in the last couple of matches, and Sameer, along with Hamza, gave us a very comfortable start. They played with great intent.
At one stage, we did look like we could get close to 380, but Iâm not disappointed at all. We put 348 on the board, which is a very good total, and it was a collective team performance.
Iâm very happy with how the boys performed. We did have a tough tournament initially. Losing to India in the first match was hard, but the management kept the confidence high and backed the players.
The team responded really well, and to come back and win the championship feels very special.â
And now, Farhan Yousaf, the Pakistani U-19 skipper, receives the WINNER cheque. Okay, all the Pakistani U-19 players are collecting their winners' medals.
Ayush Mhatre (India U-19 Captain): "Obviously, itâs not the result we wanted, but I donât think the decision at the toss was wrong. We were very clear with our mindset. They batted really well, and sometimes you just have an off day.
I wouldnât say our bowlers struggled under pressure, but yes, there were a few inconsistencies in line and length. That happens in cricket. It was one of those days in the field.
When it comes to our batting, the surface was good. The plan was simple - bat the full 50 overs. Unfortunately, it didnât come off the way we wanted, but thatâs part of the game. One team wins, one team loses. Overall, Iâm really happy with how the boys played throughout the tournament.
We had a very good campaign, and there are plenty of positives to take away. A few players really stepped up and performed well for the team. Today wasnât our day, but the tournament as a whole was a good one for us.â
Ayush Mhatre, the Indian U-19 skipper, receives the Runners-up cheque. And now, all the Indian U-19 players collect their runner-up's medals.
Sameer Minhas (Player of the Match and Tournament): "It was a good innings for me. I had only one thing in my mind to score runs for the team and help us put up a big total.
India versus Pakistan is always a big game, but personally, I didnât feel any extra pressure. I just wanted to play my natural game, and thatâs what I focused on.
Batting first was definitely the right decision. The pitch was good for batting, and we wanted to make full use of it.
Looking back at the tournament, scoring 472 runs and then getting another hundred today makes it very special and memorable for me. Thanks to Almighty Allah.â
PLAYER OF THE MATCH AND PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT: SAMEER MINHAS
The Match Officials are receiving the Medals for their outstanding work.