Sahibzada Farhan shows glimpses of his talents

While batting, what do you to do if your partner is setting the stage alight? The general advice is to never try to match him/her, rotate the strike to allow the form player to take strike. This is what Sahibzada Farhan did in the 1^st qualifier at least initially. Ronchi was going bonkers from the other end, so the strategy had a lot of sense to it.

In his post-game interview, the man from Charsadda came out as a thinking cricketer. His quote “When Ronchi plays like that, it gives me the added confidence. I thought I’ll take over if he gets out, but he wasn’t getting out today, so I decided to join the party.”

By the time Farhan decided to join the “party”, the game was pretty much done. They were almost 50 in 4 overs chasing 150, with a batting line as deep as the Arabian Sea. Football equivalent of being 4-0 up before half time. And that freedom allowed Farhan to display his talents, which earmarked him as a player with tremendous growth potential Pre-PSL. Three straight sixes, one of Usman Khan Shinwari, and two of Tymal Mills, just showed the strength of the man. To hit two extremely potent and pacey left armer, straight over their heads, is no mean feat. With the ball, angling away from the right handed Farhan, it took just brut force to clear the straight boundary.

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Perhaps, a rush of blood, meant he got out when it was easier to stay in. Afridi, took the catch. Just as it look Farhan was coming out of the shadow of Ronchi, he was gone. However, in a pressure game he stood up to be counted, initially by handing over the strike to Ronchi, then by showing his own muscle. Kudos, to the Islamabad management who opted for the young man over Iftikhar Ahmed. They could easily have opened with Hales or Duminy. Islamabad United management recognizes talent when they see it.