Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has criticised top-order batter Sahibzada Farhan for his repeated failures in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia.
The Green Shirts suffered a humiliating whitewash in the three-match series, mainly courtesy of the team’s below-par batting performance.
Farhan made his return to the team during the series, having last played in the T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year, however, he failed to impress particularly struggling against short-pitched deliveries.
In a dismal display of batting, he scored just 22 runs across three innings at a strike rate of 104.76, with his highest score being a mere nine.
However, what made his shortcomings even more remarkable was the identical nature of his dismissals in all three matches.
He consistently attempted to execute a pull shot against the short-pitched deliveries from Spencer Johnson, only to find himself caught by Xavier Bartlett at mid-wicket each time.
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Salman Butt, in a video on his YouTube channel, after the third T20I, expressed his concerns about Farhan’s struggles against pace and bounce.
“He was late on the ball. After getting out once or twice, a batter realizes that he’s late on a particular shot, especially here [in Australia]where there is steep bounce and the new ball is coming at pace,” said Butt.
The former captain pointed out that Sahibzada Farhan failed to adjust his technique and kept getting out in a similar way, which highlights his limitations.
“You either avoid such deliveries or if you can’t avoid them, you take a single towards third man on such short-pitched balls. But if you keep getting out playing the same shot in the same way, it means your shot selection is limited,” he added.
Salman Butt further emphasized that Farhan’s struggles serve as a poignant reminder that not all players who excel in domestic cricket are ready for international cricket.
“This shows that not everyone who scores runs in domestic cricket is necessarily an international material,” he concluded.
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