Unpopular opinion: Sahibzada Farhan's Asia Cup was not an improvement over RizBar's methods

[Kianig89]

14 OFF 15 that was his Powerplay score, talk about being intent merchant

 

[msb314]

Miandad and Saleem Malik could do that for some part of their careers but they declined massively in the latter half of their careers.

I would put Saeed Anwar in that list of batsmen who could put bowlers under pressure until maybe 99 or so.

But I think Zaheer Abbas stands out even among this list. For his time, he was a rapid scorer and until his very last year of cricket, he never slowed down as a batsman.

Miandad and Salim Malik to an extent as well

Salim Malik during the early part of his career was an incredible player

Mohammed Yousuf.

Excellent Test / ODI Player of his time and particularly during his peak years (2000-2009)

Could run those singles and doubles with ease during the middle overs

 

[Kianig89]

His SR in this series was 118 @ Avg. 23.7

 

[Wasim Ghulam]

Farhan is once again proving himself to be a dot ball master. Hype is one thing, but his real performance has proved that he also strikes around 120s, which is not even 1% upgrade to what we were already doing...

He has ability to play big Shots. But fearless Mindset despite the hype is not really there. Why does he end up playing dot balls? because he tries to find gaps by playing ground shots after taking risk of aerial Shot in an over. Fear of Getting out and Getting Dropped. Pakistani Players always have to deal with it . Farhan is no different.

 

[sithb]

The intent might be fine to take a quick single to rotate the strike after hitting the boundary. But he's not executing the plans correctly. As in he keeps finding the fielders.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

farhan has done well since getting called in the squad this year. he has the ability to hit a six or just target a boundary by playing an aerial shot clearing the inner circle in the powerplay. his problem is his dot ball percentage. Needs to work hard to rectify that. And maybe improving some of his shots like cuts, dabs and pulls.

 

[Sachin fan]

Yeah hitting indian trundlers is another thing but yestreday he look very uneasy facing quality fast bowling....

He had the exact same strike rates over the series. But but he hit indians. Lying and being deluded is encoded in DNA.

 

[Farabi]

Do your own research , do not be lazy. Another egg laid by Farhan today. You must be proud. 19(18).

Answer the question.

 

[Concerned]

Seems to be another Ahmed Shehzad.

But opportunity still needs to be given.

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

Answer the question.

Do your own research. It is answered already.

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

Seems to be another Ahmed Shehzad.

But opportunity still needs to be given.

yes we need someone who scores runs he can be given more chances.

 

[Farabi]

Do your own research. It is answered already.

You never answered the question. You kept deflecting.

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

You never answered the question. You kept deflecting.

I already did. Farhan's highest SR is 129 regardless of how you slice it. I am not your servant, do your own research or do bhangra over 129 SR.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

this is depressing

 

[Farabi]

I already did. Farhan's highest SR is 129 regardless of how you slice it. I am not your servant, do your own research or do bhangra over 129 SR.

Thank you.

You were cherry picking stats, but I wanted you to pull recent numbers for Farhan as an opener so we can compare apples to apples.

Rizwan announced himself as a solid batter early on, with a strike rate above 135, but over time his leg-side game got exposed and he didn’t evolve. In his last 16 T20Is as an opener since 2024, his strike rate dropped to around 112 — a period that coincided with Pakistan’s worst T20 phase. Based on those performances, there really wasn’t much choice but to try new options. A team simply cannot survive with an opener striking at 112 in T20Is and refusing to accept there is a problem. Isn’t he still refusing to sign Central Contract? Has he accepted this is a problem?

When you give a player a run, you look at their trajectory. Farhan as an opener has flaws too — his dot-ball percentage is high and his strike rate is low too— but he only started this year. He has power and range, and if he’s given even half the opportunities Rizwan got, then we can make a fair comparison. If Farhan doesn’t improve, fine — move on. But players deserve a proper run to develop.

What I take issue with is the cherry-picking of stats — comparing someone who played 100 games as opener with someone who’s had barely 15. That’s not analysis, that’s bias.

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

Thank you.

You were cherry picking stats, but I wanted you to pull recent numbers for Farhan as an opener so we can compare apples to apples.

Rizwan announced himself as a solid batter early on, with a strike rate above 135, but over time his leg-side game got exposed and he didn’t evolve. In his last 16 T20Is as an opener since 2024, his strike rate dropped to around 112 — a period that coincided with Pakistan’s worst T20 phase. Based on those performances, there really wasn’t much choice but to try new options. A team simply cannot survive with an opener striking at 112 in T20Is and refusing to accept there is a problem. Isn’t he still refusing to sign Central Contract? Has he accepted this is a problem?

When you give a player a run, you look at their trajectory. Farhan as an opener has flaws too — his dot-ball percentage is high and his strike rate is low too— but he only started this year. He has power and range, and if he’s given even half the opportunities Rizwan got, then we can make a fair comparison. If Farhan doesn’t improve, fine — move on. But players deserve a proper run to develop.

What I take issue with is the cherry-picking of stats — comparing someone who played 100 games as opener with someone who’s had barely 15. That’s not analysis, that’s bias.

There was no cherry picking, I compared Rizwan's Asia Cup which was rightly criticized especially the F knock whereas people are doing bhangra over Farhan's numbers despite them being inferior or on par at best. Farhan's SR now is 124 btw after 30 games. That is a big enough sample size.

Your last statement is incorrect - I did not compare their whole careers in the OP - I compared specifically their Asia Cup tournaments 2022 vs 2025. At the time Rizwan had played 45 innings prior - not even all of them as opener, averaging 51 and striking 129. To put that in perspective, Farhan today is averaging 22(!) at a SR of 124. We said SR is important and it is, so we discarded a player with high average and middling SR with a player with a pathetic average and an even lower SR.....not even to mention Rizwan is a keeper.

Look if Farhan becomes the next Gilchrist I will be more than happy but don't show me some chikkay he hit and do bhangra when he averages 22 and strikes at 124 despite the minnow bashing (2 of his 5 50s are vs Bangladesh, 1 vs WI)....

 

[Farabi]

There was no cherry picking, I compared Rizwan's Asia Cup which was rightly criticized especially the F knock whereas people are doing bhangra over Farhan's numbers despite them being inferior or on par at best. Farhan's SR now is 124 btw after 30 games. That is a big enough sample size.

Your last statement is incorrect - I did not compare their whole careers in the OP - I compared specifically their Asia Cup tournaments 2022 vs 2025. At the time Rizwan had played 45 innings prior - not even all of them as opener, averaging 51 and striking 129. To put that in perspective, Farhan today is averaging 22(!) at a SR of 124. We said SR is important and it is, so we discarded a player with high average and middling SR with a player with a pathetic average and an even lower SR.....not even to mention Rizwan is a keeper.

Look if Farhan becomes the next Gilchrist I will be more than happy but don't show me some chikkay he hit and do bhangra when he averages 22 and strikes at 124 despite the minnow bashing (2 of his 5 50s are vs Bangladesh, 1 vs WI)....

Again you’re not making an apples to apples comparison.
Many of those games are in different batting positions and 1 or 2 chances here and there across a decade.
His recent performances are OK and there’s potential for improvement. But if improvement doesn’t come, rinse and repeat.
What id give you is current Farhan and Rizwan, BOTH aren’t the answer. However, Rizwan is a wasted investment after 5 years and Farhan is new-ish. Let’s see