Faheem Ashraf
Faheem Ashraf – Pakistan Bowler
Faheem Ashraf was born on January 16, 1994, in Phool Nagar, Punjab. He plays for the national team in first-class competitions; in the summer of 2018, he received an official contract for the season from the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board).
Faheem Ashraf: career
He acts as an attacking all-rounder. Assessing Ashraf’s playing statistics, experts note that, despite the high competition in the national team, he is quite capable of building a brilliant career. In particular, Tauseef Ahmed, who is responsible for selection in the national team of Pakistan, stated:
I saw him in NBP. His punch is really impressive. What else does the team need? He is a powerful player, and I have seen how effective he is at home competitions.
After playing several seasons in the youth team of Faisalabad, Faheem made his debut at the first-class competitions in the 2013-2014 season, immediately registering the first hundred.
At the one-day Departmental Cup 2016-2017, Ashraf became the leader in the number of wickets taken (19). A little later, the all-rounder managed to repeat this achievement at the Pakistan Cup, where he played for Punjab.
Before the start of the 2018 season, Faheem was included in the so-called “golden category” of players whose salary ranges from 50 to 60 thousand dollars. However, the high bar did not confuse Islamabad United, who signed an all-rounder in the draft. Subsequently, this decision paid off: taking a total of 18 wickets, Ashraf made an important contribution to the team’s victory in the Pakistan Super League in 2018. At the end of the season, he was recognized as the best bowler.
In September 2019, Ashraf joined the Central Punjab team to perform at the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Successfully combining the game in different leagues, the all-rounder managed to try his hand at:
- Faisalabad (2013-2015);
- National Bank (2015-2016);
- Habib Bank Limited (2016-2017);
- Comilla Victorians (2017);
- Islamabad United (2018 – present);
- Northamptonshire (2019);
- Central Punjab (с 2019- present);
- Melbourne Renegades (2019);
- Dhaka Platoon (2019-2020).
In addition, in the 2018 season, Faheem signed an agreement with the Paktia Super Kings, whose colors he was supposed to defend within the newly created Afghan Premier League.
Faheem Ashraf: performances at the international level
Faheem Ashraf received an invitation to the Pakistan national team for the ODI competition in the spring of 2017 but did not enter the field, remaining in the back-up. A few weeks later, the coaching staff included him in the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy. In the first match against Bangladesh, Ashraf completed 64 runs, and in June, he tried his hand against the Sri Lanka national team. The statistics of the young all-rounder turned out to be so impressive that there was almost no doubt about his getting into the main squad.
In the autumn of 2017, Ashraf entered the field for the first time as part of the T20I (Independence Cup) competition. In October, he showed brilliant results in the series against Sri Lanka, consistently dealing with Isuru Udana, Mahela Udawatte and Dasun Shanaka and becoming the first Pakistani bowler to record a hat-trick in T20I.
In the 2018 season, Faheem was finally included in the test team, which was to tour Ireland and England. After making his debut against the Irish, he soon switched back to ODI competitions, this time providing all possible assistance to the national team in the game against Zimbabwe. At the end of the season, he was recognized as the “Rookie of the Year” of the PCB.
It was assumed that Ashraf would take part in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, but at the last moment, the headquarters decided not in his favor. Nevertheless, he did not lose his place in the national team and repeatedly took the field (in particular, in matches against the teams of England and South Africa).
Faheem Ashraf: carrent game statistics
| Competition Category | Test | ODI | T20I | FC |
| Mcatches | 9 | 28 | 42 | 49 |
| Balls | 1140 | 1142 | 903 | 7421 |
| Average performance | 35.25 | 41.21 | 25.80 | 27.96 |
| Best score | 3/42 | 5/22 | 3/5 | 6/65 |
