Sahibzada Farhan, an angel for Pakistan’s budding cricketers in KP province

Mian Mujahid Shah, Gulf Today

Youngsters across the Pakistan desire to emulate their favourite cricketers’ heroics on the ground but lack of amenities and financial constraint are a big hurdle for them.

Many cricketers want to play for their country and make a name for themselves in the game. But it is not an easy job, as it requires professional training under the watchful eyes of specialists of the game.

For many such aspirants of cricketing glory who can’t afford expensive training, Sahibzada Farhan is the ray of hope.

Sahibzada Farhan, a right-handed batsman, who was born in district Charsadda of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), is providing all the necessary equipment and the facilities for young and budding cricketers in the province without any charge.

Sahibzadar Farhan poses for a photograph at his cricket academy in Peshawar.

Farhan has played for several domestic teams since 2016 and in June 2018, he was called up to the national team for the first time. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Recently he played for the KP team in the National T20 tournament and was among the top scorers. He made six T20 half-centuries during the tournament and completed 1,000 runs in the season.

Shaheen Shah Afridi during a practice session at SF Academy.

Farhan runs a cricket academy in the city of flowers, Peshawar, which has produced many star players for the national team.

Many national and local cricketers get training at Sahibzada Farhan Cricket Academy known as SF Academy in Peshawar, under the supervision of the professional trainer Qadir Khan.

A general view of the SF Academy in Peshawar.

Farhan is the head of his SF Academy and is in charge of getting young KP cricketers ready for representing Pakistan.

Sahibzada Farhan has got a lot of plaudits for grooming young cricketers for domestic and international stage without any fees. Farhan also provides training and coaching to cricket aspirants at his academy.

National team wicketkeeper M. Rizwan plays during a  practice session at SF Academy.

He also arranges the bowling machine and speed meter for the bowlers and has allowed the players to wear spike shoes, which other academies don’t.

SF Academy is one of the best training centres for youngsters in the city of flowers, where they also get free food and energy drinks. SF Academy also provides free sports kits to players. Farhan academy also arranges one match for the players once in a week, which is also free of cost.

Imran Khan senior (L) interacts with other cricketers at SF Academy.

In near future the players will be able to enjoy the world-class gym at the academy.

SF Academy produced many stars in the academy like Pakistan’s fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, national team wicketkeeper Mohammed Rizwan, Imran Khan senior and other players as well. All of them got free training at the SF Academy.

Mehtab Ali Shah in action during a practice session at SF Academy.

One of the young cricketers of the SF Academy, Mehtab Ali Shah, said “we are lucky to have a senior player like Farhan bhai, who supports all of the young aspirants at his academy.

“We come to the academy in the hope of becoming the star of the future for our country as we know that the man behind us is not an ordinary but a professional cricketer, who provides us free training at his SF Academy,” Mehtab added.