Sahibzada Farhan shifts gears to hold Pakistan together

Sahibzada Farhan did not live up to expectations against India on February 15. Having played three dots, on the fourth ball of Pakistan's chase, a back-of-length delivery from Hardik Pandya, Farhan attempted a pull. The speed of the delivery, and the height at which it arrived, denied Farhan time and power for the horizontal-bat shot and he skied a catch to midwicket. Hardik strutted forward, staring at Farhan who left the field in a daze.

This was the same batter who had hit two half-centuries and a 40 in three matches against India in the Asia Cup last year. Pakistan lost all those matches, but Farhan was the only one who showed chutzpah, and became the first to hit Jasprit Bumrah for three sixes in T20Is. The duck in Colombo, then, would have grated.

If the long boundaries, especially square of the wicket, give bowlers a significant say at the R Premadasa Stadium, the venue for the India-Pakistan contest, the more intimate SSC, where Pakistan played Namibia, gives batters more freedom to be aggressive.

It was a surprise, then, that Pakistan scored only 47 in the powerplay for the loss of Saim Ayub. Did the early wicket and a shaky middle order make Farhan plan to bat deep and calibrate run rates on the fly?

If that was the plan, he made it work, even if it felt as though Pakistan were walking the tight rope at times. Despite the small boundaries, Pakistan hit their first six only in the ninth over. When the field restrictions were on in the first six, Pakistan managed just eight fours, and they did not hit a single boundary for 15 balls between 6.4 until the end of the eighth over.

The slower tempo is not a recent trend. Since the 2024 T20 World Cup until the game against Namibia, Pakistan were seventh among the top-10 teams on balls-per-boundary and balls-per-six counts. They hit a four every 6.08 balls and a six every 17.38 balls. The corresponding number for defending champions India: 4.45 and 11.87.

Farhan, too, has been reluctant to keep going, especially in powerplay where he has a high dot-ball percentage of 52.51 since the 2024 T20 World Cup. While his strike rate is 131.38, his aggressive shot count in the powerplay is 38%. Among 37 batters from the top-10 teams with at least 20 innings in this phase in the same period, Farhan is 19th. For comparison, India's Abhishek Sharma has an aggressive shot count of over 65%.

Farhan explained that the slow start against Namibia was down to the pitch being "not easy" early on. "I was confident, Inshallah, even if I take a bit of time I could help my team set a big target," Farhan said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award for his maiden T20I century - 100 not out off 58 balls.

After sneaking boundaries early on via edges, Farhan became more confident towards the halfway stage. He slog-swept Willem Myburgh and then lofted the Namibian legspinner's googly high over the wide long-off boundary for successive sixes. Pakistan had regained control at 85 for 1 after ten overs, but Salman Agha and Khawaja Nafay fell in the space of eight deliveries in the middle overs.

Farhan had the choice to bat through the innings or play boldly and trust the long batting line-up - Usman Khan, Babar Azam along with allrounders Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf - to give Pakistan a powerful finish. Farhan chose to bat through and it paid off.

If it was a plan to have one opener bat deep while the other batters play aggressively, it may not be a bad one, considering there is no one in the middle order that Pakistan can currently rely on for stability in case of a collapse, or acceleration to capitalise on a strong start. Babar was meant to regulate the middle overs, but with him struggling for form - Pakistan did not even send him to bat against Namibia - Farhan's role will become more crucial as they enter the Super Eight.