Imran Farhat ( ur, , born 20 May 1982) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er who played for
Pakistan national cricket team
The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International C ...
between 2001 and 2013. He usually opened the batting in most of his international innings. In January 2021, he retired from cricket, following the group stage of the
2020–21 Pakistan Cup
The 2020–21 Pakistan Cup was a List A cricket competition that took place in Karachi, Pakistan from 8 January to 31 January 2021. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the defending champions after they beat Baluchistan. However, after the new domestic stru ...
.
Personal life
His brother
Humayun Farhat
Humayun Farhat ( ur, ہمایوں فرحت; born 24 January 1981) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team in 2001 as a wicket-keeper in his only Test cricket match. He is one of two br ...
has also played International cricket for Pakistan.
He's the son-in-law of former Pakistani Test batsman Mohammad Ilyas.
He's an alumni of the
Beaconhouse School System
The Beaconhouse School System is a private school system mostly operating throughout Pakistan.
Cricket career
Domestic career
Farhat made his senior debut aged 15 in a one-day match for
Karachi City
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
against
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, together with three other players who went on to play Test cricket (
Taufeeq Umar
Taufeeq Umar ( Punjabi: توفیق عمر, born 20 June 1981) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 2001 and 2014. Umar was a regular Test opening batsman for three seasons, before being dropped ...
,
Bazid Khan
Bazid Khan (born 25 March 1981) is a Pakistani cricket commentator and former cricketer.
In the 2021 edition of ''Wisden Cricketer's Almanack'', he was named as the Schools Cricketer of the Year for his performances between 1998 and 2000.
Earl ...
and
Kamran Akmal
Kamran Akmal (Urdu, pa, ; born 13 January 1982) is a Pakistani former cricketer, who played for Pakistan as a right-handed batsman & wicketkeeper. He started his international career in November 2002 with a Test match at Harare Sports Club. ...
).
He continued to score heavily in the domestic competitions and a century in a practise game against the visiting Indian team was rewarded with a place in the squad to take on India in the Test series in 2006.
In the
2012–13 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
The 2012–13 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was one of two first-class domestic cricket competitions that were held in Pakistan during the 2012–13 season. It was the 55th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and was contested by fourteen teams represent ...
, Farhat scored 303 runs for
Lahore Ravi
Lahore cricket teams, representing the city of Lahore, competed in Pakistan's first-class cricket tournaments from 1958–59 to 2018–19. They have also competed in the national 50-over and Twenty-20 tournaments as the Lahore Lions.
Teams
Fr ...
against
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
. He was the leading run-scorer for
Habib Bank Limited
Habib Bank Limited ( ur, ) abbreviated as HBL, is a Pakistani multinational bank based in Habib Bank Plaza, Karachi, Pakistan.
Founded in 1939 by the Habib Family, HBL became Pakistan's first commercial bank. In 1951 it opened its first inte ...
in the 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with 494 runs in ten matches. He was also the leading run-scorer for Habib Bank Limited in the 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with 744 runs in eleven matches.
In September 2019, he was named in
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament. In January 2021, he was named as the captain of Balochistan for the
2020–21 Pakistan Cup
The 2020–21 Pakistan Cup was a List A cricket competition that took place in Karachi, Pakistan from 8 January to 31 January 2021. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the defending champions after they beat Baluchistan. However, after the new domestic stru ...
.
International career
Three years later, in February 2001, Farhat made his
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
debut, against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, scoring 20 runs in a chase of 150 to win. After the tour of New Zealand, where Farhat played three Tests and three ODIs, he was sent back to domestic cricket before returning against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in the third Test of the 2002–03 series, where he made 30 and 22 in an innings defeat. However, he was retained for the home two-Test series against
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in 2003–04, where he scored 235 runs including a maiden Test century in a 1–0 series win, second behind fellow opener
Taufeeq Umar
Taufeeq Umar ( Punjabi: توفیق عمر, born 20 June 1981) is a Pakistani former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 2001 and 2014. Umar was a regular Test opening batsman for three seasons, before being dropped ...
.
A month later, Farhat played in an ODI-only series against New Zealand, which Pakistan won 5–0, and Farhat made three fifties along with his second international century, ending with 348 runs at a
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
of 69.60, once again the second-highest number of runs – this time behind
Yasir Hameed
Yasir Hameed Qureshi (Urdu: یاسر حمید قریشی) (born 28 February 1978) is a former Pakistani cricketer, who played 25 Tests and 56 ODIs for Pakistan. He scored two centuries on his Test debut against Bangladesh, becoming only the sec ...
. The season was rounded off with another century, this time against
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, where he made 101 to help Pakistan gain a 202-run first-innings lead and eventually won the match by nine wickets. However, Farhat tallied 81 runs in the other two matches, which Pakistan lost to lose the series 1–2.
Farhat was less impressive the following season, however, and in four Tests, two against
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and two against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, he only passed fifty twice, ending the season with 199 runs at 24.87 before the selectors left him out for the third Test of the series with Australia.
In September 2004, just before the 2004–2005 season, he had been dropped from the ODI side following the 2004 Champions Trophy, as he had failed to pass 40 with any of his last ten innings, and that included 38
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
against the non-Test nation of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, 20 against ODI debutants Hong Kong and 24 against
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
He returned to Test cricket in style against India, with an important half century in the deciding third Test at Karachi. He scored a brilliant unbeaten century in the final test against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in 2009.
Coaching career
In February 2021, he began to undertake level 2 coaching courses with the
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...
.
In September 2022, he was appointed batting coach to the Bahawalpur Royals squad for the inaugural season of the
Pakistan Junior League
The Pakistan Junior League (PJL) was a professional 20-over cricket league contested by Under-19 teams representing different cities of Pakistan. The league was soft-launched on 14 April 2022 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman, Ramiz ...
.
In November 2022, he began to undertake level 3 coaching courses with the PCB.
In February 2023, he was appointed batting coach to the Afghanistan team.