Sahibzada Farhan took Pakistan off to a flier in the all-important Asia Cup final against India. The batter took on the role of an accelerator in the pressure match and smashed 57 off 38 balls to put India on the back foot early in the final.
The cricketer also scored a fifty against India in the Super Four match, while he managed 40 in the group stage game against the arch-rivals. Overall, the batter has finished the Asia Cup as the highest-run-scorer of Pakistan and the third in the list of most runs in the tournament.
How Pakistan Resisted Temptation To Drop Sahibzada Farhan?
However, the narrative was completely different at the start of the tournament, and Sahibzada Farhan was under real pressure to score runs. In the UAE tri-series which included Afghanistan and the host team, Sahibzada scored just 63 runs in five innings at an average of. 12.60.
To accommodate him, Pakistan were asking Fakhar Zaman to bat at three or four in the tri-series. Big runs were not coming off the bat of Fakhar Zaman, and there were calls for him to bring him back as an opener. Also, Mohammad Haris was not scoring runs in the middle order, so there was calls to bring him as an opener as a replacement of Sahibzada Farhan.
Sahibzada Farhan in UAE Tri-series
Criterion
Data
Innings
5
Runs
63
Average
12.60
Strike-Rate
150
100s/50s
0/0
However, Pakistan management trusted him, and even though they brought Fakhar Zaman as an opener, it was at the cost of Saim Ayub. Thus, Sahibzada Farhan persisted as an opener despite his poor returns in the tri-series and slow knocks early in the tournament.
Also, the trust is not limited to only Asia Cup. Fakhar Zaman was opening the innings when he first made his return from injury during the T20I series against Bangladesh. However, Sahibzada scored a fifty in the third T20I of that series, and then he was trusted to open over Fakhar Zaman in the series against the West Indies.
Why Pakistan Trusted Sahibzada Farhan Despite Inconsistency Before Asia Cup
The inconsistency continued from Sahibzada Farhan, but the trust continued, and now he has delivered one of his finest T20I knocks in the all-important final against India. The reason for trusting Sahibzada Farhan despite his inconsistency at the international level is the batter's excellent performance at the domestic level.
Sahibzada Farhan In T20 cricket
Criterion
Data
Innings
130
Runs
4036
Average
33.63
Strike-Rate
136.81
100s/50s
6/25
The cricketer has six T20 hundreds to his name and blasted 449 runs in 12 innings of PSL 2025. His strike-rate was 152.20. In the National T20 Cup, he was even more prolific with 605 runs in seven innings at a strike-rate of 189.66 and an average of 121. Thus, Sahibzada Farhan has scored truckloads of runs at the domestic level, and the Pakistan management clearly seems to have observed him as a player who can take their new approach in T20 cricket forward.
The explosive knocks at the international level are still missing. Sahibzada Farhan though has now clearly shown the glimpses of his talent in a high pressure final against India, and would be an important asset for Pakistan with T20 World Cup 2026 in sights.
Sahibzada Farhan against India (Source: AFP).jpg)
