Nineteen-year-old opening batter Sameer Minhas enjoyed a stellar PSL campaign in 2026 – where does it rank among the best seasons recorded by teenagers in men's franchise cricket?
Note: Domestic competitions are not considered here; only men's franchise T20 tournaments.
10. Haider Ali - PSL 2020
10 matches | 239 runs | Avg 26.55 | SR 157.23 | HS 69
Haider made his name as a top-order basher in the 2020 PSL. After a rocky start, knocks of 47 off 27 and 34 off 12 impressed many before he scored 69 from No.5, after Peshawar Zalmi were reduced to 24-3 against Lahore Qalandars. He did turn 20 during the Covid interruption midway through the season, but played only one match after that. Haider made it to Pakistan's squads for the T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022, but even four years later, his career is yet to really take off.
9. Ayush Mhatre - IPL 2025
7 matches | 240 runs | Avg 34.28 | SR 188.97 | HS 94
Mhatre was signed by Chennai Super Kings as an injury replacement in 2025, and only places ninth here due to a relatively small sample size of fixtures. Not yet 18 when he debuted, he hit 32 off 15 against Mumbai Indians. Mhatre struck at nearly 200 across the rest of the season, the standout his 94 off 48 against eventual champions RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He started 2026 in similarly positive fashion, but a hamstring injury has ruled him out of the rest of the campaign.
8. Shaheen Shah Afridi - PSL 2020
12 matches | 17 wickets | Avg 19.52 | ER 7.11 | BBI 4-18
Shaheen was already playing for Pakistan by 2020, but that didn't make this season any less impressive. Like Haider, he also turned 20 during the lockdown; four of his wickets in this year came in three games after that. While he struggled a touch in the playoffs, most of Shaheen's good work came in the league phase, including spells of 2-20 and 4-18 against Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United respectively. James Vince, Shane Watson, Moeen Ali and Carlos Brathwaite were among his victims.
7. Mujeeb Ur Rahman - CPL 2020
11 matches | 16 wickets | Avg 13.56 | ER 5.29 | BBI 3-11
2020 was the year Trinbago Knight Riders won 12 out of 12 games, beating Mujeeb's Jamaica Tallawahs in the semi-final on their way. Mujeeb took Jamaica's only wicket in that game, of Sunil Narine. His major impact in that tournament came earlier on; in the space of five days, he recorded consecutive hauls of 3-18, 3-11 and 3-14 in four overs each. Unfortunately, Jamaica only won one of those matches, but Mujeeb finished second on the wicket-takers' chart, only behind Scott Kuggeleijn.
6. Noor Ahmad - CPL 2024
12 matches | 22 wickets | Avg 13.22 | ER 6.19 | BBI 3-18
The second of three Afghan spinners on this list, Noor's 22 wickets in the Caribbean Premier League two years ago remain the highest tally for a teenager in a men's franchise league; only Hampshire's Danny Briggs and Worcestershire's Pat Brown (31 and 27 in the 2010 and 2018 T20 Blast respectively) have taken more in any T20 competition. Noor took three wickets on four occasions for St Lucia Kings in 2024, helping the franchise win their first title in eleven years and taking home the Player of the Tournament award.
5. Sameer Minhas - PSL 2026
11 matches | 349 runs | Avg 38.77 | SR 155.80 | HS 82*
Minhas caught the eye in 2025 with his performances for Pakistan's U19 side, which included a 42-ball century in a Youth ODI. He was signed by Islamabad United for this year's PSL, and after missing out on their first game, made himself indispensable. His second-ever PSL knock was an unbeaten 82 off 48 against a Quetta Gladiators attack boasting Alzarri Joseph, Usman Tariq and Abrar Ahmed. Minhas followed that up with 70 off 36 against Rawalpindiz, and in the Qualifier made 44 off 23 as the rest of the lineup tumbled. A highly impressive T20 season by any measure, considering he is not visibly blessed with power, and had played just two senior T20s prior to this campaign.
4. Rishabh Pant - IPL 2017
14 matches | 366 runs | Avg 26.14 | SR 165.61 | HS 97
2017 was Pant's second IPL season, with Delhi Daredevils, and he had already played for India by this point. After moving up and down the order in 2016, he now had a settled middle-order role, and showed what he was capable of. Pant began the season with a 33-ball half-century against RCB and had a top score of 97, scored off 43 balls, against the Gujarat Lions. Only two teenagers have scored more runs at a better strike rate in a franchise T20 league, and both are on this list. The following year, after he turned 20, Pant put up one of the IPL's all-time great seasons but now looks a shadow of that player in the shortest format.
3. Lhuan-dre Pretorius - SA20 2025
12 matches | 397 runs | Avg 33.08 | SR 166.80 | HS 97
Pretorius had scored a century on first-class debut in December 2024, but it's unlikely that even Paarl Royals expected what he would deliver in the 2025 season. His high score of 97 (still his highest in all T20 cricket) came on debut as he tore into the likes of Marco Jansen, Richard Gleeson and Ottneil Baartman. That knock earned him praise from none other than Ben Stokes, and he went on to finish as the leading run-scorer of the season. He has since gone on to secure deals in the IPL, T20 Blast, The Hundred and Major League Cricket. There was also the small matter of his hundred against Zimbabwe on Test debut; Pretorius went past Graeme Pollock to become the Proteas' youngest centurion in men's Test cricket.
Also read: Why Lhuan-dre Pretorius' wrists make him T20 batting's newest unicorn
2. Rashid Khan - BBL 2017/18
11 matches | 18 wickets | Avg 13.83 | ER 5.65 | BBI 3-20
Either side of this BBL campaign, Rashid had solid spells with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL – indeed, any one of these seasons could have made the cut. But this season with the Adelaide Strikers was perhaps a notch above. He began by winning Player of the Match on BBL debut, and took two wickets apiece in each of his first five games. Even the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Kieron Pollard could not get hold of him. Rashid's performances powered Adelaide to their maiden final, even as he missed the summit clash (which they won) due to international duty. His 18 wickets were the joint-highest in the league, and the season was the start of his cult status in the Australian city. The Strikers have not made a final since then, even as Rashid has gone on to become the all-time top wicket-taker in T20 cricket.
1. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi - IPL 2026*
10 matches | 404 runs | Avg 40.40 | SR 237.64 | HS 103
Who else was it going to be at number one? The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi needs absolutely no introduction. While the 2026 season is listed here, it could just as easily have been his breakout year in 2025, where he hit his first ball for six and made a 35-ball century. The argument for placing the ongoing season above could be the fact that he is yet to succumb to second-season syndrome, given the added spotlight on his exploits for India A and India U19 since the last IPL. He remains just as dangerous as ever. Nothing else will sum up Sooryavanshi quite like Kyle Jamieson – 6'8", 31 years old, and a 74-capped fast bowler – saying, "I don't think I've ever been so fearful of a 15-year-old kid in my life," after a game in which he dismissed him second ball.
Read more: Rapid hands, split-second reactions: What makes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a batting tornado
*ongoing season
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