Sahibzada Farhan entered the history books with his maiden T20I century in Pakistan’s 2026 T20 World Cup Group A match against Namibia on Wednesday. However, as significant as the milestone was, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan was not entirely impressed with his performance towards the end of the innings in the opener.
Farhan reached a hundred in the penultimate over but his performance was a surprise. On the second ball on the 20th hole, he calmly pushed the ball to a long single and hit a milestone score. With this, he became the second Pakistani batsman after Ahmed Shehzad to score a century in the T20 World Cup.
However, Pathan questioned the timing and intention behind this approach and said the team’s overall result should be the sole focus in the final game.
“He must have scored a century, but to take a run? Unbelievable. Unbelievable. You will be happy that you have scored a century and Pakistan has reached 199,” Irrfan said during the live broadcast.
“But in the last over, you take a defensive shot and then you leave the last ball. Kamal Hai,” he added.
Farhan also failed to capitalize on an opportunity in the final over, unable to catch an off-ball bowled by Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus. The final over was not exactly maximised, and Pakistan might not have pushed their total to 199 had Shadab Khan not hit two crucial sixes.
The 29-year-old ended up unbeaten with a 58-ball 100, hitting 11 fours and 4 sixes in an innings with a strike rate of 172.41.
In the larger context of the game, Farhan’s century set the stage for Pakistan’s 199/3 season in Colombo. Captain Salman Ali Agha contributed 38 runs while Shadab remained unbeaten with 36 runs to provide the team with a late flourish. In reply, Namibia were beaten as Usman Tariq’s mysterious spin (4/16) disintegrated the middle order, with Shadab claiming 3/19. Namibia were bowled out for 97 in 17.3 overs, helping Pakistan to a 102-run win and confirm their spot in the Super 8 stage.
