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 str ...

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 ...

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.

Personal life

His brother Humayun Farhat 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.

Cricket career

Domestic career

Farhat made his senior debut aged 15 in a one-day match for Karachi City against

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, 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 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, Farhat scored 303 runs for Lahore Ravi 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.

International career

Three years later, in February 2001, Farhat made his One Day International 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 ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, 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 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 Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 2003–04, where he scored 235 runs including a maiden Test century in a 1–0 series win, second behind fellow opener

. 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 and two against Australia, 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

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, 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

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 Counc ...

. In September 2022, he was appointed batting coach to the Bahawalpur Royals squad for the inaugural season of the Pakistan Junior League. 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farhat, Imran 1982 births Living people Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers Lahore cricketers Habib Bank Limited cricketers Pakistani cricketers Biman Bangladesh Airlines cricketers Lahore Blues cricketers Lahore City cricketers Lahore Eagles cricketers Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers Cricketers from Lahore Uthura Rudras cricketers ICL Pakistan XI cricketers Lahore Badshahs cricketers People from Lahore Beaconhouse School System alumni Pakistani cricket coaches