Fazalhaq Farooqi produced another stunning performance for MI Emirates in their fourth ILT20 2025 match, claiming 4/24 against Sharjah Warriorz at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
The Afghan pacer had recorded the best bowling figures in ILT20 history last week after finishing with figures of 5/16 against Dubai Capitals albeit in a losing cause.
A member of the Rajasthan Royals IPL 2025 squad, Farooqi’s career-best T20 bowling figures of 5/9 came against Uganda during the 2024 T20 World Cup.
On Sunday, the Afghanistan fast bowler made an instant impact after MI Emirates’ captain Nicholas Pooran introduced him into the attack in the second over of the innings.
Farooqi picked up the all-important wicket of English opener Jason Roy to put Sharjah Warriorz on the backfoot in the early stages.
The 24-year-old then returned to the attack in the 16th over to dismiss Sharjah Warriorz’s other opener Johnson Charles, who was batting on 59 at the time and looked poised for a bigger score.
His last two wickets came in the 18th over as he sent back Keemo Paul and opposition captain Tim Southee to take the wind out of Sharjah’s sails.
Farooqi’s incisive and economic spell of 4/24 played a huge part in restricting Sharjah Warriorz to a total of 176/9.
In response, MI Emirates chased down the target comfortably in 17.4 overs to register a nine-wicket win and claimed their second victory in the ongoing season of the International League T20.
Farooqi’s heroics with the ball saw him rise to the top of the wicket-taking charts in ILT20 2025 with 11 scalps in four games. He also boasts a respectable economy rate of 6.37.
The left-arm fast bowler has been a consistent performer for Afghanistan in recent times, picking up 54 wickets in 43 T20Is at an economy of 6.70.
He was key to the Afghanistan cricket team’s run to the T20 World Cup semi-finals last year and has previously played for Sunrisers Hyderabad across two IPL seasons, claiming six wickets in seven matches.
