Mohammad Hafeez: “He looked pretty uncomfortable while facing the first over, despite being an opener. He has this recurring issue of struggling against the swinging new ball”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan team director and interim head coach Mohammad Hafeez admitted it was troubling to see Sahibzada Farhan struggle against the swinging new ball despite being an opening batsman.
He noted that Farhan “looked pretty uncomfortable” in the first over itself, which is not a good sign.
Hafeez urged him to “work on this issue” and “play the new ball with more control” or it could result in him getting out early.
“He looked pretty uncomfortable while facing the first over, despite being an opener. He has this recurring issue of struggling against the swinging new ball,” he said on A-Sports show The Pavilion.
“He is a great product and had a great season, but he needs to work on this issue. He needs to play the new ball with more control, otherwise, the top-class new-ball bowlers will keep challenging him.”
Farhan recently played for the Lahore Qalandars in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and scored 266 runs in eight matches, which included three fifties, at an average of 38 and a strike-rate of 133.66.
The Qalandars were the reigning champions coming into PSL 9, but they were unable to retain their title as they finished last on the points table after winning just one out of the 10 games they played.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 9: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sahibzada Farhan, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Imran, Ahsan Hafeez, Dan Lawrence, Jahandad Khan, Syed Faridoun, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Tayyab Abbas
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