![Sahibzada Farhan and Kamran Akmal [Source: @Mughal80719Zain, @Mirza143146/x]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1768465033419_SahibzadaFarhanandKamranAkmal.jpg?type=hq)
Sahibzada Farhan and Kamran Akmal [Source: @Mughal80719Zain, @Mirza143146/x]
Pakistan star Sahibzada Farhan recently named opening batter Ahmed Shehzad as his favourite cricketer. While the choice in itself raised a few eyebrows, Farhan’s insistence on picking Shehzad over several all-time greats from India and Pakistan, such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Saeed Anwar and Rohit Sharma, left a couple of former Pakistan cricketers visibly baffled.
It is worth noting that Sahibzada Farhan also became the centre of controversy last year during the 2025 Men’s T20 Asia Cup in the UAE, when his gun-trotting celebration against arch-rivals India drew heavy criticism amid worsening geopolitical tensions and a near week-long exchange of cross-border fire between the two nations.
Basit Ali apologizes, Akmal laughs over Farhan’s unflinching Ahmed Shehzad loyalty
In a seemingly harmless rapid-fire question, star Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan named out-of-favour Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad as his cricketing idol. However, the moment soon turned into a full-blown talking point when Farhan also preferred Ahmed Shehzad over the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Saeed Anwar and Rohit Sharma in a series of “this or that” questions.
The interview caught the attention of former Pakistan cricketers Basit Ali and Kamran Akmal during their interaction in a separate conference. While Basit Ali folded his hands and apologised to the entire cricketing fraternity over Farhan’s absurd choice, Kamran Akmal could not hold his laughter along with the interviewer.
Kamran even jokingly implied that Sahibzada Farhan seems to have lost his mind after giving such an answer.
Why did Sahibzada Farhan pick Ahmed Shehzad?
In his interview, Sahibzada Farhan described Ahmed Shehzad as his cricketing idol, who inspired him to start playing the game. While Shehzad showed immense promise during his regular playing days for Pakistan, a dip in form led to his ouster from the playing XI across all formats.
The out-of-favour Pakistani batter played 13 Tests, 81 ODIs and 59 T20I matches for his nation, aggregating over 5,000 runs in the process at an average of 31.41 with 10 hundreds and 25 half-centuries across all formats. At one stage of his career, Ahmed Shehzad was even described as Pakistan’s answer to Indian run-machine Virat Kohli.
Despite being a perennial underachiever, Ahmed Shehzad was likely picked by Sahibzada Farhan owing to their previous ties. A few weeks ago, Farhan shared a picture of his younger self with Shehzad on social media, thus indicating a long-standing personal admiration and connection that likely influenced his unwavering loyalty to Shehzad despite the latter’s uneven international career.
Sahibzada Farhan in contention for T20 World Cup 2026 squad
Sahibzada Farhan is currently one of the strongest contenders to make it to the Pakistan squad for the upcoming 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next month. The 29-year-old recently starred in Pakistan’s home T20I series win and another bilateral series win against Sri Lanka.
The attacking right-hander was also one of the standout performers for the Pakistan team at the 2025 Asia Cup in the UAE last year. Yet to make his ODI and Test debuts for Pakistan, Sahibzada Farhan has minted 917 runs at a strike rate of 129.15 in 37 T20I innings.
