Three finals. Three wins over India. Two as captain, one as mentor.
On Sunday in Dubai, Sarfaraz Ahmed added another chapter to a strangely consistent rivalry story as Pakistan Under-19s thrashed India by 191 runs to lift the ACC Men&'s U19 Asia Cup.
The numbers from the final were unforgiving.
Pakistan piled up 347 for 8, before bowling India out for 156 in just 26.2 overs. The tone was set by opener Sameer Minhas, whose blistering 172 off 113 balls didn't merely build a total -- it drained belief from the opposition before the chase even began.
The script felt eerily familiar.
It echoed June 18, 2017, at The Oval, when Sarfaraz captained Pakistan to one of the most one-sided India-Pakistan finals in history. That day, Pakistan posted 338 for 4 and skittled India for 158, sealing a 180-run win in the ICC Champions Trophy final.
Different teams, different eras -- the same same result. A towering first-innings score, followed by India folding well short of the target.
The symmetry runs deeper than just finals. Both campaigns began with India landing the first blow, only for Pakistan to respond when it mattered most.
In the 2017 Champions Trophy, India crushed Pakistan by 124 runs in the group stage. Pakistan regrouped, recalibrated, and peaked on the final day.
In the 2025 U19 Asia Cup, India again dominated the group-stage meeting, beating Pakistan Under-19s by 90 runs. A week later, Pakistan flipped the rivalry in the only place that truly counts -- the final.
It would be simplistic to argue that a mentor wins matches the way a captain does. But it is fair to say Sarfaraz now occupies a unique place in Pakistan's India-final folklore: The man who led the charge in 2006 and 2017, and one who now forms part of the support spine in 2025.
Long before his Champions Trophy heroics, Sarfaraz had already written an India-final chapter at the youth level.
In February 2006, he captained Pakistan to the ICC Under-19 World Cup title in Colombo, where Pakistan scraped to 109 before bowling India out for 71 -- a 38-run victory that hinted early at his comfort in high-stakes knockouts.
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