Pakistani Cricket Players: Imran Farhat

Imran Farhat Biography

Source(google.com.pk)
Full name Imran Farhat

Born May 20, 1982, Lahore, Punjab
Current age 31 years 271 days
Major teams Pakistan, Biman Bangladesh, Habib Bank Limited, ICL Pakistan XI, Lahore, Lahore Badshahs, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Lions, Pakistan Reserves
Also known as Romi
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak
Relation Father-in-law - Mohammad Ilyas, Brother - Humayun Farhat

Career

Farhat made his senior debut aged 15 in a one-day match for Karachi City against Malaysia, together with three other players who went on to play Test cricket (Taufeeq Umar, Bazid Khan and Kamran Akmal). Three years later, in February 2001, Farhat made his One Day International debut, against New Zealand in Auckland, scoring 20 runs in a chase of 150 to win. After the tour of New Zealand, where Farhat played three Tests and three ODIs, he was sent back to domestic cricket before returning against Australia in the third Test of the 2002–03 series, where he made 30 and 22 in an innings defeat. However, he was retained for the home two-Test series against South Africa in 2003–04, where he scored 235 runs including a maiden Test century in a 1–0 series win, second behind fellow opener Taufeeq Umar.

A month later, Farhat played in an ODI-only series against New Zealand, which Pakistan won 5–0, and Farhat made three fifties along with his second international century, ending with 348 runs at a batting average of 69.60, once again the second-highest amount of runs – this time behind Yasir Hameed. The season was rounded off with another century, this time against India, where he made 101 to help Pakistan gain a 202-run first-innings lead and eventually won the match by nine wickets. However, Farhat tallied 81 runs in the other two matches, which Pakistan lost to lose the series 1–2.

Farhat was less impressive the following season, however, and in four Tests, two against Sri Lanka and two against Australia, he only passed fifty twice, ending the season with 199 runs at 24.87 before the selectors left him out for the third Test of the series with Australia. In September 2004, just before the 2004–2005 season, he had been dropped from the ODI side following the 2004 Champions Trophy, as he had failed to pass 40 with any of his last ten innings, and that included 38 not out against the non-Test nation of Kenya, 20 against ODI debutants Hong Kong and 24 against Bangladesh.

He continued to score heavily in the domestic competitions and a century in a practise game against the visiting Indian team was rewarded with a place in the squad to take on India in the Test series (2006). He returned to Test cricket in style, with an important half century in the deciding third Test at Karachi. He scored a brilliant unbeaten century in the final test against New Zealand in 2009. His brother Humayun Farhat has also played International cricket for Pakistan.

Career statistics
Test debut New Zealand v Pakistan at Auckland, Mar 8-12, 2001 scorecard
Last Test South Africa v Pakistan at Centurion, Feb 22-24, 2013 scorecard
Test statistics

ODI debut New Zealand v Pakistan at Auckland, Feb 17-18, 2001 scorecard
Last ODI Pakistan v South Africa at Birmingham, Jun 10, 2013 scorecard
ODI statistics

T20I debut Australia v Pakistan at Melbourne, Feb 5, 2010 scorecard
Last T20I Bangladesh v Pakistan at Dhaka, Nov 29, 2011 scorecard
T20I statistics

First-class debut 1998/99
Last First-class National Bank of Pakistan v Habib Bank Limited at Islamabad, Jan 22-25, 2014 scorecard
List A debut 1997/98
Last List A National Bank of Pakistan v Habib Bank Limited at Islamabad, Jan 27, 2014 scorecard
Twenty20 debut Karachi Dolphins v Lahore Lions at Lahore, Apr 25, 2005 scorecard
Last Twenty20 Faisalabad Wolves v Lahore Eagles at Rawalpindi, Feb 11, 2014 scorecard
Recent matches
Bat & Bowl Team Opposition Ground Match Date Scorecard
23 L Eagles v Wolves Rawalpindi 11 Feb 2014 T20
2 L Eagles v P Panthers Rawalpindi 10 Feb 2014 T20
4 L Eagles v Leopards Rawalpindi 7 Feb 2014 T20
2 Habib Bank v National Bnk Islamabad 27 Jan 2014 LA
40, 59 Habib Bank v National Bnk Islamabad 22 Jan 2014 FC
0/28, 10 Habib Bank v ZTBL Lahore 19 Jan 2014 LA
1/29, 0* Habib Bank v ZTBL Lahore 14 Jan 2014 FC
0 Habib Bank v Pakistan TV Lahore 11 Jan 2014 LA
300*, 2/4 Habib Bank v Pakistan TV Lahore 6 Jan 2014 FC
0/11, 35 Habib Bank v Sui Gas Lahore 3 Jan 2014 LA
Profile
A gifted young left-handed opener who threatened at one stage to solve Pakistan's perennial opening conundrum, Imran Farhat had a brief spell in the Pakistan side after success with the national under-19 and A sides. Farhat also evokes Saeed Anwar but only fleetingly; he bludgeons rather than times his runs. He was rather too cavalier in his early appearances in the Test arena, and was promptly discarded after the tour to New Zealand in 2000-01. However, he tightened his game and achieved much more success in the 2003-04 season. Tempering his impressive array of shots with better defensive technique, Farhat scored a deluge of runs in the home series against South Africa and New Zealand, being involved in a record four successive hundred partnerships with Yasir Hameed in the one-day internationals against New Zealand. He also notched up his first century in both Tests and ODIs during this season, and then went on to score a vital 101 in Pakistan's victory against India in the Lahore Test. But since the India series, he has fallen away. A mediocre series at home to Sri Lanka and away to Australia saw him falter, especially with the emergence of the other left-handed opener, Salman Butt. When Pakistan included only one specialist opener in the squad for the series against England in 2005 - Butt - seemingly it confirmed that Farhat, temporarily, was out of national reckoning. But as an opener in Pakistan, you are never out of national reckoning and sure enough Farhat was back for the final Test against India, where he scored a fifty. That performance saw him on the plane to Sri Lanka and an average series. But with openers becoming as rare as dinosuars in Pakistan, he was retained for the summer tour to England, where he again produced some mixed results. Despite failures in the first two Tests, a broken finger and a spate of dropped catches, he came back to score a cavalier 91 in the final, fateful Oval Test. Runs against West Indies at home were followed by a barren patch in South Africa. A first away hundred followed by a patient half-century in the Napier Test of 2009 has set him up for a long sojourn in the Test side. His ODI career has however hit roadblocks since he was dropped after an indifferent run of scores in 2006.

Imran Farhat, Cricketers is famous for Cricket, Pakistani celebrity. Born on 20 May, 1982

A gifted young left-handed opener who threatened at one stage to solve Pakistan's perennial opening conundrum, Imran Farhat had a brief spell in the Pakistan side after success with the national under-19 and A sides. Farhat also evokes Saeed Anwar but only fleetingly; he bludgeons rather than times his runs. He was rather too cavalier in his early appearances in the Test arena, and was promptly discarded after the tour to New Zealand in 2000-01. However, he tightened his game and achieved much more success in the 2003-04 season. Tempering his impressive array of shots with better defensive technique, Farhat scored a deluge of runs in the home series against South Africa and New Zealand, being involved in a record four successive hundred partnerships with Yasir Hameed in the one-day internationals against New Zealand. He also notched up his first century in both Tests and ODIs during this season, and then went on to score a vital 101 in Pakistan's victory against India in the Lahore Test. But since the India series, he has fallen away. A mediocre series at home to Sri Lanka and away to Australia saw him falter, especially with the emergence of the other left-handed opener, Salman Butt. When Pakistan included only one specialist opener in the squad for the series against England in 2005 - Butt - seemingly it confirmed that Farhat, temporarily, was out of national reckoning. But as an opener in Pakistan, you are never out of national reckoning and sure enough Farhat was back for the final Test against India, where he scored a fifty. That performance saw him on the plane to Sri Lanka and an average series. But with openers becoming as rare as dinosuars in Pakistan, he was retained for the summer tour to England, where he again produced some mixed results. Despite failures in the first two Tests, a broken finger and a spate of dropped catches, he came back to score a cavalier 91 in the final, fateful Oval Test. Runs against West Indies at home were followed by a barren patch in South Africa. A first away hundred followed by a patient half-century in the Napier Test of 2009 has set him up for a long sojourn in the Test side. His ODI career has however hit roadblocks since he was dropped after an indifferent run of scores in 2006.

Imran Farhat is an opening batsman with considerable skill. However, while he scores a bucketful of runs in domestic cricket, international success for extended periods of time has somehow eluded him. For someone who has been around since 2001, Farhat has managed only a few appearances for Pakistan.

Farhat’s finest moment came against New Zealand at Napier in 2009-10 when he carried his bat through an innings. Pakistan were bowled out for 223, but Farhat had batted through, scoring 117 not out when nobody else crossed 25.

Farhat has an admirable First Class record — over 11,700 runs at 43.50 with 28 centuries and 51 fifties with a top score of 308. At a time when quality openers were scarce in Pakistan, he was never quite out of national reckoning, but with the emergence of the likes of Mohamad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad and Asad Shafiq at the top for Pakistan, it looks difficult for Farhat to make another come-back.

Shiamak Unwalla

Imran Farhat Batting & Fielding Averages
M In R NO HS Avg BF SR 100s 50s 4s 6s Ct st
Test 40 77 2400 2 128 32.00 4970 48.28 3 14 348 4 40 0
ODIs 58 58 1719 2 107 30.69 2488 69.09 1 13 189 16 14 0
T20s 7 7 76 0 19 10.85 70 108.5 0 0 14 0 3 0
Imran Farhat Bowling Averages
M BB R W Avg EC SR 5WI 10WM BBI BBM
Test 40 427 284 3 94.66 3.990 142 0 0 2/69 2/69
ODIs 58 116 110 6 18.33 5.689 19.33 0 0 3/10 3/10
T20s 7 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Imran Farhat Career statistics
Test DebutNew Zealand v Pakistan at Eden Park, Auckland, March 8, 2001
Last TestSouth Africa v Pakistan at Centurion Park, Centurion, February 22, 2013
ODI DebutNew Zealand v Pakistan at Eden Park, Auckland, February 17, 2001
Last ODIPakistan v South Africa at Edgbaston, Birmingham, June 10, 2013
T20 DebutAustralia v Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, February 5, 2010
Last T20Bangladesh v Pakistan at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, November 29, 2011

Cricketers, follow Imran Farhat’s example and find the right father-in-law!
After having read the famous quote, “A man in love is incomplete until he is married. Then he’s finished”, I realised how untrue this was in case of Mr Imran Farhat. No one could finish him ever since he got married and once again, our superhero is back!

Imran Farhat has successfully made another comeback into the Pakistani cricket team. This time, I am comparing his return to that of Mr Aamir Liaquat’s epic comeback to his home TV channel. Both have certainly inscribed their marks among the masses, due to their common talent of making comebacks. Mr Liaquat relishes a ‘doctorate’ degree, whereas Mr Farhat is enjoying a certificate; the marriage certificate.

Since his “phenomenal” heroics at the Champions Trophy, that enabled Pakistan to take an early exit to enjoy a much-needed breather before important future tours, Farhat’s workload was realised by the PCB and they decided to give him ‘due rest’ for the West Indies series.

Against all odds, the master of comebacks has been selected for the Zimbabwe tour.

His recent domestic performance is in front of my eyes; I am stunned to see that he scored 16, 7, 14, 5, 5, 65 runs in his last six domestic matches. I must acknowledge that those 65 runs were enough to prove his capabilities and to bring him back to the team against an important opposition like Zimbabwe.

The only other reason that comes to mind is perhaps hidden in this quote,

“Before marriage, a man yearns for the woman he loves. After the marriage the “Y” becomes silent”.

Now, I would request for the entire nation to observe a moment of silence for Farhat’s return, just like it is silently watching “Ramazan Aman”.

You might all know that Nasir Jamshed has been dropped from the Test squad, but do you know why?

To date, he has no father-in-law in the PCB. In fact, he has no in-laws at all. Otherwise, a young and talented player like Jamshed, presented no other reasons to be dropped out. On the other hand, Farhat will go ahead and score some cheap runs, to (once again) ruin some important future series. But of course, he will still be called back. After all, who can keep “damad ji” out of action (and the news) for a longer period of time?

Jamshed, a little piece of advice, if you ever decide to marry just remember, “love is blind, and marriage is the eye-opener”. If you’re smart, you’ll realise what else marriage will open up for you in front of blind selectors!

Dear selectors: have you really selected Faisal Iqbal and Wahab Riaz too? Is there any criterion or merit for such decisions? Apart from Faisal Iqbal’s modest average of 26.76 in 26 Test matches, his last few domestic innings read 25, 22, 48, 4, 4, 42. He, aged 31, is not a youngster anymore either. How long will he get chances?

Two relatively younger batsmen, Umar Akmal and Fawad Alam, average 48.94 and 55.96 in domestic, respectively. If you won’t play them against Zimbabwe, then where and when will you try them? Similarly, Usman Salahuddin (averaging 47.21), Haris Sohail (averaging 51+) have been overlooked for Test team selection, for no apparent reason. If Imran Farhat can get 40 Test matches over a decade with a modest average of just 30, why can’t Fawad Alam after averaging 40+ in only three Test matches?

In the bowling department, PCB opted for Rahat Ali and Ehsan Adil, instead of consistent performers like Sadaf Hussain and Asad Ali. Asad couldn’t impress the selectors after his performance in the ODI series in the West Indies, but his First Class bowling statistics (averaging 22.87 for 355 wickets) are far better than the other two. He certainly deserved more opportunities.

There are some other notable omissions too. For instance, the young aspiring wicket keeper Mohammad Rizwan has also been dropped past the West Indies tour, without even being tried. He averages about 44.32 in the First Class and his snubbing is mind boggling. How can a cricketer prove himself without even being tried?

Similarly, Hammad Azam was dropped after only two chances, which is unfair to a young player like him. Pakistan desperately needs an all rounder and if Azam is not good enough, then Abdul Razzaq could have been reselected. The World T20 is around the corner and we need at least one good all rounder to compete against the international teams out there.

Finally, another old saying reads, “you have two choices in life: you can stay single and be miserable, or get married and wish you were dead”. However, contrary to this statement, I would advise our young aspiring cricketers to get married to the daughter of a PCB official and be certain that another comeback is always round the corner.

You cannot choose your uncles, but you can always choose your in-laws!