Pakistan U-19 Team Gets Hefty Cash Reward From Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif After Beating India In Asia Cup

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday announced a special cash award of 10 million rupees for Pakistan's U19 Asia Cup-winning squad members. The Pakistan colts beat India by 191 runs on Sunday to claim the title. Sharif made the announcement at a reception for the team and officials in Islamabad where he lauded the team's performance. Sarfaraz Ahmed, the mentor and manager of the team, told the media after the reception that the Prime Minister has announced cash award of 10 million (Approx INR 32 lakh to each of the players.

Sarfaraz said he was enjoying working with a bunch of talented players who had a great future in the sport. Head coach Shahid Anwar credited win to a long process of selecting the squad and giving each player enough exposure of 50-overs cricket.

"The process started in June when we picked around 70 players after trials and then reduced the number to 20. Most of these players were then given chances to play 50-over cricket at domestic level," Anwar a former Test batsman said.

India faltered against the big-hitting Sameer Minhas and the extra zip of pacers, suffering a massive 191-run defeat against Pakistan in a one-sided 50-over Under-19 Asia Cup final, here Sunday.

Pakistan lifted their second U19 Asia Cup, and as it is the norm now, there was no formal greetings between the players of two teams.

Once Pakistan posted a mammoth 347 for eight, riding on Minhas' 172 (113b, 17x4, 9x6) they needed a lion-hearted chase to clinch a ninth title in the tournament.

But the tall Pakistan pace troika -- Ali Reza (4/42), Mohammad Sayyam (2/38) and Abdul Subhan (2/29) -- hurried their top-order with consistent hard-lengths as India folded for 156 in 26.2 overs.

India skipper Ayush Mhatre said his team played well throughout the tournament but wayward bowling cost them dear on the crucial day.

"We were clear to bowl first, there were some inconsistencies in the line of the bowling. It was a simple plan to play the 50 overs. The boys really played well and tournament was good for us and some players stood up," he said.

Pakistan skipper Farhan Yousaf said he "was not disappointed with the final score." "We very happy with the collective performance. We had lost the first match against India, but our management had a good talk with us and we could provide the win in the final," Yousaf said.

Topics mentioned in this article

Pakistan U19 India U19 Vaibhav Suryavanshi Cricket