Saadi
97 posts
Sahibzada Farhan was Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in the T20 World Cup but there are certain aspects of his game that merit discussion. Highlighting specific areas does not mean the player is poor or should be dropped. It is simply about assessing performance objectively.
Accumulating runs in T20s has never been an issue for Pakistan’s batters. Both Babar and Rizwan were prolific and topped the rankings yet Pakistan reshuffled the top order because they wanted aggression. Farhan has provided that intent but it is still to be tested consistently against stronger opposition.
Farhan’s T20I record against SENAI (the top five sides) makes a poor reading: 376 runs in 18 innings at a strike rate of 115. Against lower-ranked teams, he has 929 runs in 27 innings at a strike rate of 147. It is noticeable contrast with a decent sample size.
Since 2024, the average balls taken to reach 50 in T20Is are: Australia 27, England 28, India 28, South Africa 29 and New Zealand 29. Pakistan batters on average takes 33 balls to score a fifty, the same as Farhan’s.
Milestones are not the priority in T20 cricket, but when they come, they should arrive at the right pace. At times, there appears to be excessive focus on personal landmarks. For instance, against Namibia he scored just three runs off the last three balls before reaching his hundred with a non-aggressive single and he even acknowledged surpassing Virat Kohli’s 319-run mark by fist-bumping Fakhar. Such celebrations seem slightly unnecessary and pursuit of such landmarks can distract you from bigger goals.
If we look at the last two matches, Farhan’s fifties came off 32 balls against Sri Lanka and 37 against England, well below the current global benchmark. There is no doubt Farhan is a more powerful hitter than Babar and Rizwan against both pace and spin but his dot-ball percentage (42%) remains among the highest, which affects the level of early momentum he can generate.
In a game, read SL vs Pak, where 419 runs were scored in 40 overs, a fifty off 32 balls or a hundred off 59 balls is just about par. It is not a bad innings, but it is unlikely to create a powerful impact. In contrast, Fakhar’s 84 off 42 balls at SR 200.00 was a far more impactful knock.
Farhan now is likely to move to No. 2 in the T20I rankings and could even reach the top if results elsewhere go his way. Rankings are celebrated by fans, but elite teams rarely base their strategies on them alone (a mistake Pakistan did before with certain players). That’s why despite being Number 3 in the world, he didn’t make it to the 14 Pakistan players shortlisted for auction of the Hundred.
Pakistan have won 29 T20Is in the past year. But that quantity does not make them the best team in the world. Similarly, sheer weight of runs cannot, by itself, define a batter as the best.
English
@TheFigen_ my name is Saadi, named after the Persian poet, Sheikh Saadi. that's one reason why poetry moves me so much, i guess.
English
@CambridgeInt Hi there
I've been trying to book my place for the Orlando conference from Pakistan but of no avail.
It tells me on the very last step that something has gone wrong.
Can anyone help me through?
English
We are excited to invite #CambridgeSchools to join us at the upcoming Cambridge Schools Conference #CamSchoolsConf which will take place in Florida, at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate from 23 - 24 June 2023.
(1/2)
English
جائز نہیں ہجراں میں ہلکا سا تماشہ
یا آہ بھی مت کیجیے یا حشر اٹھا دیجیے.🔥
اردو
جیسے چپ چاپ برستی ہے مسلسل بارش
ایسے چپ چاپ برستا ہے تصور تیرا
اردو
کس کس میرا یوٹیوب چینل سبسکرائب نہیں کیا برائے مہربانی وہ ہی رپلائی کریں
جنہوں نے ابھی تک سبسکرائب نہیں کیا
جو سبسکرائب کر چکے وہ ری ٹویٹ کر دیں
اردو
@okhaaniya the one from Cambridge Assessment International Education CAIE is fake
English
