Sahibzada Farhan will look to play more responsibly

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Sahibzada Farhan has earned a maiden call up to the Pakistan team after an impressive PSL campaign with Islamabad United.

The aggressive batsman doesn’t just want to be considered a T20 slogger and is eager to prove his worth in first class cricket.

In a recent interview with PakPassion.net Sahibzada said: “Of course, I am looking to play in a more responsible manner, but I still go by my philosophy that if a ball is there to be hit, I will not let it go without dispatching it to the boundary.

“During the recently concluded PSL tournament, my team Islamabad United and Karachi Kings were practicing at the same venue. Waqar Younis was trying to help me practice to score runs off my weak areas.

“He worked on me for a few hours with not much luck. Mohammad Rizwan, who was watching from a distance, came over and told Waqar that you can keep on practicing for as long as you like at Farhan’s weak spots and things will not improve.

“But, he could bet anything with Waqar, that if the ball came in the right place for Farhan in his strong area, it would be deposited outside the boundary in no time.

“After Waqar heard this, he told me to come out of the nets and just play the way I normally play. I did not disappoint as in the game I hit Usman Khan Shinwari for a six and also struck a six off Tymal Mills as well.

“My point is that, yes, I will look to play responsibly but I will never miss an opportunity to score when the ball is in the right place for me to hit.”

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Sahibzada believes he is ready to make the step up for Pakistan in the tri-series in Zimbabwe.

He said: “I feel that I am ready for international cricket and playing in the PSL has a lot to do with that.

“The reason is simply that in the PSL you are batting against Pakistan’s and also the world’s top bowlers.

“From what I understand, the PSL is also one of the world’s top Twenty20 Leagues and if one can play in this tournament and learn from it, then there is no doubt in my mind that one can easily play at the international level as well.”

Sahibzada bemoaned the lack of four day cricket in Pakistan and feels this is the greatest obstacle to him proving he is more than a T20 tonker.

He said: “I really have no problems playing in the 4-day format of the game with the red-ball. The only issue is that you have relatively less chances of playing First-Class cricket as there is only one big domestic tournament in the year.

“Then, you have a number of One-Day and T20 tournaments including the PSL and now we even have T10 competitions as well, so a player has to mentally adjust for that style of cricket.

“Having said that, I would like to say to my critics that I am working very hard for the next season for First-Class games. I have played well before against the red-ball, so I am sure I can do it again.”

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