IPL 2021: [Watch] Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi troubles MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina during practice game
20-year-old Afghanistan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi continued to impress in the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) latest practice game, troubling the likes of MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina with some thunderbolts.
Fazalhaq Farooqi peppered an array of short balls at Suresh Raina, leaving the left-hander looking very uncomfortable. He tried to pull them towards the fine leg region with very little success.
To MS Dhoni, Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled wide yorkers from around the wicket, which he executed pretty well. The CSK skipper tried to squeeze them towards the point region and picked up a couple of quick singles.
Then, the bowler missed his mark and bowled a full toss which the wicket-keeper batsman smashed for a boundary. MS Dhoni then succesully went after Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Fazalhaq Farooqi tried to target areas that have proved to be weaknesses for both these batsmen for quite some time now. With the bowler executing his plans brilliantly, both MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina would need to fine-tune their vulnerabilities before the start of the tournament.
Fazalhaq Farooqi gives a tough time to Moeen Ali
Fazalhaq Farooqi also caused plenty of problems for Moeen Ali. He bowled the tough lengths to the English cricketer, and also induced the edge on one occasion.
Moeen Ali found it tough to attack the bowler initially but later eased in and hit him for a couple of boundaries. The left-arm pacer bowled tight lines to former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis as well.
Fazalhaq Farooqi, who was roped in as a nets bowler by CSK a few days ago, represented Afghanistan in a T20I game last month. While he has only played a couple of T20 matches so far in his career, the pacer has an impressive first-class record with 22 wickets in 12 games.
With the Chennai Super Kings still looking out for Josh Hazlewood's replacement, Farooqi seems to be a good prospect available. The management could add some diversity to their bowling attack if they decide to include him in the squad.