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Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan is the leading run-scorer and six-hitter in T20s since 2025. Farhan made his name in domestic cricket, walked into the T20I squad after Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s ouster. It was in the T20 World Cup 2026, he proved his mettle. He broke Virat Kohli’s record for most runs in a single edition of T20 World Cup and that too with a good strike rate. He has carried forward the form in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) and revealed that Multan Sultans teammate Iftikhar Ahmed’s reality check on strike rate led to the drastic change in his approach as opener.
“I finished as the leading run-scorer across the last four seasons [of the National T20 Cup], but I was not considered [good enough] for [high-level] T20 cricket. After the first two seasons, Iftikhar Ahmed [Peshawar and Pakistan team-mate] had an honest conversation with me and said, "You cannot be playing with a strike rate of 132 as an opener." I did not like him saying that and found it odd that he was criticising my low strike rate despite me scoring the most runs across two editions,” Farhan recalled.
At first, Farhan was in a bubble of his own creation. He didn’t understand why being the leading run-scorer wasn’t just enough, now his strike rate needs to be like finishers as well. But, he slowly realised that he has to get somewhere close to the demands of evolving T20 format and it paid dividends straightaway.
“Abdur Rehman, our coach from Peshawar, also told me that scoring at a strike rate beyond 140 would be beneficial for me. I did not truly understand the logic behind it and thought that being the leading run-scorer should be significant in itself,” said the 30-year-old.
“But I [slowly] realised I need to improve my strike rate and push it closer to 150. I began aiming to be the leading six-hitter in every tournament from that point. I started to practise power-hitting. I scored at 170-180 [492 runs at 178.90] in the next National T20 Cup [in 2023] and hit the most sixes [29 in 12 innings].”
“Then, in my last National T20 Cup [2025], I was again the leading six-hitter [with 40 in seven innings] and scored three centuries. I hit the most sixes [for Pakistan] in the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup, and I think I am the leading six-hitter in the ongoing PSL as well.”
Farhan learning to take singles like Rizwan and Babar
After working on improving his strike rate, adding more power to his range-hitting, Farhan now wants to cut down on dot balls by learning the art of taking singles inside the circle with deft hands. He used Rizwan and Azam's example. Farhan has vowed that in Pakistan's next series, results will show with him taking more singles.
“I am working on how I can steal singles with soft hands, as [Mohammad] Rizwan bhai and Babar [Azam] do, with our batting coach. They have worked on it and they have confidence to run singles in front of the fielders. I have an issue with running, so I fear that I may get run-out. I am working on it. It cannot be solved in one series and will take time,” the opener said.
“Actually, it is something I never developed. I have a reputation of being a hard hitter and fielders in domestic cricket stand at the edge of the circle anticipating that I will hit the ball [there] rather than taking a single. You will see less of that in the next series. It may not vanish completely, but there will be less of it.”
Sahibzada Farhan’s numbers in PSL and year 2026
In the ongoing PSL, he is the second-highest run-scorer. From six innings, he has scored 249 runs at an average of 49.80 and strike rate of 180.43. He has scored a century and a fifty each. So far, he has hit 17 sixes in the tournament. No other batter with 150 or more runs has a better strike rate in PSL 2026.
He is leading run-scorer in T20s this year. From 22 innings, he has managed 860 runs at an average of 43 and strike rate of 153.57. He has hit three centuries and five fifties in 2026 already.
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