Irfan Khan Niazi’s journey from school trial failure to Pakistan team camp

Mohammad Irfan Khan Niazi, who represented Karachi Kings in PSL 9, is part of the national squad for the T20 series against New Zealand.

Irfan Khan Niazi, who was selected for the first time in the national team, says that the PSL performance has been rewarded, he wishes to play for Pakistan for a long time.

Who is Irfan Khan Niazi?

Irfan hails from Mianwali and started his cricket from here but it was not an auspicious start as he failed in his first trial. Remembering this, Irfan says, “When I gave the trial for the school team, I could not be selected, from here I took it as a challenge to show myself by being selected. Then not only was I selected, but also from the same school.” Became the captain of the team and thus my cricket started.

After school cricket, Irfan’s next destination was the U-19 team at the district level, where his first year did not go so well and he was advised to quit cricket and take up teaching or something else.

Irfan said that when I was selected for U-19 from Mianwali district, I did not get the opportunity to play the first four matches in the first year. When the fifth and final match came, I got out for a wicket in the first innings and was run out in the second innings. The coach of my team advised me to quit cricket as he thought it was a waste of time for me to play. This was my second challenge, I went back to my club and after school I practiced at the ground from noon to 6pm. I worked like this for a whole year and then I was made the captain of the same team i.e. Mianwali District U-19. Inzamam-ul-Haq, my club captain and mentor in Mianwali, guided me a lot and was my first regular coach.”

For cricket, Irfan left his hometown Mianwali and shifted to Faisalabad, where he continued his academic and cricketing journey at DPS, a popular school in the city.

Irfan Niazi said that DPS principal Shahid Mahmood supported me a lot in terms of cricket and gave me the opportunity to captain the DPS team for three years.

Face Cricket Academy in Faisalabad where I used to play was closed for some reason so I joined former Test cricketer Muhammad Salman’s cricket academy and under his coaching I got a chance to improve my cricket and Salman Bhai. guided me in a very good way.”

In his second year at the inter-regional level, Irfan Niazi played an important role in making Faisalabad region the champion by scoring a century in the final of the inter-region U-19 three-day tournament. In 13 innings, Irfan scored 453 runs at an average of 41 with a century and two half-centuries and was among the top five batsmen of the tournament. Along with this, Irfan also took 12 catches. At this time, while Irfan was performing well in terms of sports, in his personal life, Irfan was also going through the shock of his younger brother’s death.

Based on his performances at the inter-regional level, Irfan Khan was included in the Pakistan U-19 camp and was subsequently included in the squad that toured South Africa in 2019.

Irfan says, “In 2019, my name came up in Pakistan U-19 and I was selected for the series against South Africa. In one match I also scored a century. At that time, I was playing in the middle order, so I wanted to play long innings. There was an opportunity. Our coach Azam Khan advised me to play in the lower middle order and adopt the role of a finisher.”

During this tour, Irfan scored 208 runs in four innings at an average of 69.33 and also took three catches. Irfan’s next destination for Pakistan U-19 was the 2020 World Cup in South Africa in which he scored 56 runs in three innings and took six catches in five matches.

Irfan was also included in the squad for the 2021 U-19 Asia Cup and in this tournament played in the United Arab Emirates, Irfan was the fourth highest run-scorer for Pakistan with 61 runs and eight catches in four matches. He was also the most prominent fielder of Pakistan. In the 2021 World Cup played in the West Indies, Irfan was part of the Pakistan team as a finisher and Irfan scored 132 runs in five innings for Pakistan.

Talking about his U-19 World Cup experience, Arfan says, “My role in the U-19 World Cup West Indies was that of a finisher and my batting position was such that sometimes I got a chance to bat and sometimes I didn’t. In the first match of this tournament, I scored 75 runs against Zimbabwe, then 24 runs against Bangladesh and 27 runs against Australia. After that, I got the opportunity to play domestic cricket at the senior level and I became the second of Central Punjab. Included in the 11, I was the youngest player in Central Punjab that year.”

In the domestic cricket season of 2021-22, Irfan scored 529 runs at an average of 53 in the Cricket Associations Championship (T20) and scored 79 runs in the Cricket Associations Challenge (Three Day). In the 2022-23 season, Irfan was included in the first XI of Central Punjab and this season Irfan scored 141 runs in the National T20 Cup and 122 runs in the Pakistan Cup. Karachi Kings selected Mohammad Irfan Khan in emerging category in HBL PSL Draft 2023 based on his performance in National T20.

Irfan says, “My role playing for Central Punjab was such that it was difficult to top in terms of scores as I came to bat as a finisher in the lower middle order but I was always in the top 10 scorers. At that time Central Punjab’s first 11 was a star-studded squad which made it difficult to get a place in it. But the coaches knew who was performing in the second 11. When Abdul Razzaq became the coach, he After seeing me play, I was given a chance in the National T20 Cup for the First XI and based on my performance in that tournament, Karachi Kings selected me for the HBL Pakistan Super League 2023.”

Talking about the PSL experience, Irfan Ka says, “It was an honor to be named in the HBLPS and I am very thankful to the Karachi Kings management for trusting me and giving me full support. Opportunities provided. I got to learn a lot in my first season, it was all a new experience for me and trying to perform, I would call the first year in PSL a learning opportunity for me. And this year I was quite ready for it, Karachi Kings retained me and supported me continuously. I am very grateful to the management and coaches of Karachi Kings for having me in the team once again. Assistant coach Mohammad Masroor, with whom I have been working since age group cricket, also guided me well at Karachi Kings and helped me improve my fielding and batting. I would also like to thank Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal for encouraging me at every opportunity and providing all possible support.”

In PSL season 9, Irfan Khan emerged as not only the best emerging player of the season but also the best fielder and his reward for this Mianwali match winner was in the form of inclusion in the Pakistan national cricket team squad. Irfan says, “I got a lot of support from my parents, despite the death of my younger brother and now being the only son, they don’t insist that I come back to them but say that if I play well If possible, they will support me fully. When I came to senior cricket from under-19, the way my seniors encouraged me gave me a lot of confidence and learned that tomorrow when I will be a senior player. How should I encourage others. It is every player’s dream to play cricket. When the team was being announced, everyone was watching it on TV after hearing their name Can’t be explained in words.”

Believing in his hard work, Irfan Khan is determined to provide his services to Pakistan Cricket for a long time.

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