Jason Gillespie: “Irfan Khan Niazi is one of the best strikers of a ball in Pakistan cricket and he’s one of the best fielders in Pakistan cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie believes big-hitting batsman Irfan Khan is “one of the best strikers of a ball in Pakistan cricket”.
Irfan has played 14 T20Is to date, scoring 189 runs at an average of 27 and a strike-rate of 135.
He has also featured in nine ODIs, where he has made 48 runs at an average of eight.
Although the 23-year-old last played international cricket in March 2025, Gillespie still rates him very highly – including as a fielder as he considers him to be one of the best in the country.
“Irfan Khan Niazi is one of the best strikers of a ball in Pakistan cricket and he’s one of the best fielders in Pakistan cricket,” the former Australia fast bowler was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X.
Irfan was not picked for Pakistan’s recent two-Test series against the West Indies, which ended as a 1-1 draw.
Next up for the men in green will be a three-Test tour of England, which will take place from August 19 to September 13.
Pakistan Squad for England Test Series: Babar Azam (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Awais Zafar, Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel (subject to fitness), Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah