Karachi [Pakistan], January 26 (ANI): Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday congratulated Imran Farhat on a successful 24-year-long career. The top-order batsman, who represented Balochistan in the domestic season 2020-21, retired from professional cricket on the completion of his side’s campaign in the Pakistan Cup One-Day Tournament.
The 38-year-old marked his debut in domestic cricket in a List ‘A’ match in the 1997-98 season and made his first-class debut the next season. Imran emerged on the national scene following impressive runs with the national U19 and ‘A’ sides and made his debut for the senior men’s team during Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand in 2001 in ODI cricket in February and played his maiden Test the next month.
Over the course of his domestic career, Imran scored 15,805 runs (38x100s, 72x50s) in 230 first-class matches, 7,572 (15x100s, 38x50s) in 222 List ‘A’ matches and 1,636 runs (2x100s, 8x50s) in 69 T20s.
Speaking about his retirement, Farhat said: “It is certainly an emotional moment for me to retire from the game which I have loved and have been passionate about since childhood. It has been an honour for me to don Pakistan colours, something which every youngster in this country dream about. There have been highs and lows in my career, which is natural, but the fact that I got to get on the field for almost two and a half decades is something I will cherish forever.”
“I want to thank the teammates with whom I have shared dressing rooms for giving me lifetime memories. I also want to thank the coaches who believed in me while helping me get where I am today. I also want to thank my family who made extraordinary sacrifices to see me happy and help me achieve my dreams. They have put in an incredible effort, which remains in the background, and without their support, I would certainly not have been able to achieve any of this,” he added.
Imran made 4,195 runs in his 105-match international career – 2,400 in 40 Tests, 1,719 59 ODIs, and 76 in seven T20Is. He captained Habib Bank Limited to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy title in the 2018-19 season and steered Balochistan as the team’s captain in 2019-20 and the senior-most member in 2020-21 seasons.
He was the highest run-getter for Balochistan in the Pakistan Cup One-Day Tournament 2020-21 with 499 runs, which included three half-centuries and one century in nine matches.
PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said: “Imran Farhat has been one of the most successful batsmen in Pakistan’s domestic circuit and I congratulate him on completing a successful career. Imran has always been willing to give back to Pakistan cricket what he has learned over his cricketing career. He led a young Balochistan side after the domestic structure’s revamp in 2019 and shared his knowledge with the upcoming cricketers from the region.” (ANI)