Although he showed promise, scoring 5058 runs, his career never really took off.
“Ahmed Shehzad is someone I used to follow. I was his fan and started my cricket after watching him,” he said.
Which is why Farhan’s pick was all the more baffling. If his infamous gunshot celebration against India in the Asia Cup wasn’t controversial enough, Farhan really stirred the pot with his choice, leaving one and all surprised. In fact, Former Pakistan cricketers Basit Ali and Kamran Akmal couldn’t believe what they saw as a video clip went viral, with the former expressing his disbelief at Farhan’s comment.
“This is fake. Hundred per cent fake. Sahibzada Farhan has not gone mad so far that he picks Ahmed Shehzad over Sachin Tendulkar. I plead with you to stop this topic,” Basit, with folded hands, said on the YouTube channel ‘The Game Plan’.
“I promise you all, whenever I meet Sahibzada, I will ask him, ‘Were you in your senses that day?’ I promise. Whoever asks you a question regarding Sahibzada’s pick, tell him that Basit Ali and Kamran Akmal apologise for it.”
Kamran Akmal ‘asks for forgiveness’
Kamran Akmal, who was on the show as well, couldn’t stop laughing at the outrageous comment made by Farhan, eventually saying sorry. “We ask for forgiveness for Sahibzada’s mistake,” he said.
Farhan has, in a short time, become an integral part of Pakistan’s T20I set-up, scoring 917 runs from 37 matches. Yet to make his ODI or Test debut, the 29-year-old recently scored back-to-back half-centuries against Sri Lanka to help Pakistan secure a 2-0 win.
Tendulkar and Sehwag weren’t the only ones Farhan ignored. Rohit Sharma, Saeed Anwar, too, were left behind for Ahmed Shehzad.