Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan has opened up about facing Jasprit Bumrah in the Asia Cup 2025, saying that hitting the Indian pacer for sixes gave him confidence despite the bowler making things difficult early on.

 

Speaking in a video shared by ESPNCricinfo, Farhan was careful not to single Bumrah out. "Speaking about Bumrah, I don't think there was only Bumrah in that team. All of them were some of the best bowlers, like Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. So, it's not that there was only Bumrah," he said.

 

That said, Farhan did not shy away from acknowledging how tough Bumrah was to face. 

 

"I started with Bumrah. You get confidence as a player when you hit a good player for a six. If you look at him, he gave me a tough time in the beginning. He was doing slower ones, yorkers, and bouncers. He swings the ball and bowls outswing and inswing. It's natural that it's very difficult to play him. So, you have to find your way. When you cross that thing, you pass that thing. Then the rest of the bowlers seem easy to you, I think," he added.

 

Farhan had hit Bumrah for three sixes across the tournament, two in the group stage match and one in the final. 

 

On how he prepared for Bumrah specifically, Farhan pointed to mental focus and his background in tape-ball cricket. 

 

"I found it difficult in the first match. He is famous for his yorkers and can bowl them at any time, so I was ready for that. I was very focused when facing him. Everyone is extra focused when it is India-Pakistan. My experience of playing tape-ball cricket helped me. I have faced bowlers with weird actions who bowled slower ones and yorkers in tape-ball cricket. So that helped me," he said.

 

Farhan also revealed his match preparation routine, which involves studying opposition bowlers through video analysis provided by team analyst Talha Ejaz, usually the night before a game. 

 

He follows that up with net sessions designed to replicate real match situations, with his general approach being to target the main bowler early and put the opposition attack under pressure.

 

It is worth noting that no batter has scored more T20 runs or hit more sixes than Sahibzada Farhan since the start of 2025.