Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi, center, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis during the T20 cricket match of Asia Cup between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)Two features of Afghanistan medium pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi stand out. The first, and the most prominent is the late inswing he purchases against the right-handed batsmen. His action is not classically moulded, not a Trent Boult or Shaheen Afridi who glides into their release. Farooqi’s is a clunkier action. But like Boult and Afridi, he bends the ball back in devilishly late. The second is the energy he expends on his appeals. The exertion, both physical and verbal, takes him on his knees, arms so wide apart that you feel like he would start banging his chest if he is denied a wicket, veins on the neck and arms popping out so prominently that you feel like those would burst any moment.
Both features rattled Sri Lanka’s batsmen. The swing first, and then the appeal. Just five balls into the game, Kusal Mendis realised this. Farooqi was mostly slanting the ball across him off a short of good length, almost benignly, without much pace or movement. Then from nowhere, he pinged one fuller and faster, swinging and swerving, onto the legs of Mendis past his angled bat looking to flick the ball. Mendis perhaps read the ball, but did not factor in the pace and movement.
His awe-struck response demonstrated that he was not expecting any of the late swing. Not from a little-known Afghanistan bowler from the northern province of Baghlan, just16 international games old.
🚨 RESULT | AfghanAtalan WIN BY 8 WICKETS@RGurbaz_21 (40) and @zazai_3 (37*) followed their incredible bowling effort with an electrifying batting display as they chased down the 106-run target with 9.5 overs to spare.
Congratulations to everyone!#AfghanAtalan | #AsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/YAKL18G1z4
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) August 27, 2022
The appeal turned on deaf ears. The umpire was unmoved. Farooqi had little hesitation in cajoling his captain Mohammad Nabi to seek a review. Farooqi’s convictions stood vindicated. The review in slow motion enhanced the beauty of the ball—a lovely release, the upright seam, the light away-swerve and finally the late swing back. His celebration, though, was not as wild as his appeal.
There was more devilish in-swing in store, this time to the left-handed Charith Aslanka the very next ball after he nailed Mendis. Aslanka was perhaps expecting the same ball, an away-goer as he was a left-hander. He shuffled across to the ball that was less fuller than the previous one, only to see the ball snake back into his pads. This time, the umpire immediately answered his plea. Sri Lanka teetered to 3/2 in the first over, an abyss from which they could not crawl back.
Sri Lanka probably came with plans in tow for Rashid Khan (not that their plans were exactly prudent or the execution was perfect), but even before the leg-spinner strolled in, they were half-away into an embarrassing defeat, a humbling reality check. By the time Farooqi came back for his second over, Sri Lanka had lost another wicket too, that of Pathum Nissanka to Naveen-ul-Haq. He almost snatched a hat-trick, but for Danushka Gunathilaka’s inside edge onto the pads. He almost had him chopped on, but the ball missed the stumps by a whisker. Suddenly, Sri Lanka were playing him as warily as they would have Shaheen Afridi or Jasprit Bumrah, or Mitchell Starc, Farooqi’s favourite bowler. At this stage of his career, he is close to none of the trio. But Afghanistan had unearthed a genuinely skilful bowler who could ally with their spinners.
It's been an incredible start for Afghanistan as @fazalfarooqi10 Haq picks two wickets in the first over followed by another wicket in the 2nd over by @imnaveenulhaq ☺️
🇱🇰 – 5/3 after 2 overs#AfghanAtalan | #AsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/g1wrtyqXgf
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) August 27, 2022
Hereafter, they would no longer be just about Rashid Khan. Batsmen of far stronger sides than Sri Lanka would be dissecting him threadbare, decoding the yin and yang of his in-swingers.
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The Lankans showed brief resistance—Gunathilaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa stitched 45 runs but Gunathilaka’s exit triggered another collapse. Soon, Sri Lanka were reeling at 9/75 before the merry-go-round batting of Matheesha Pathirana and Chamika Karunaratne dragged them to 105. Inevitably, Farooqi broke the last wicket stand. Sri Lanka’s embarrassment was not complete—Afghanistan wrapped up the chase in 10.1 overs. And throughout it all shone Farooqi—his inswing and appeal.