Former World Cup winning captain and chairman of the PTI Imran Khan graced the foreign players who came over to the PSL final in Lahore with a most charming adjective. Phateecher.
He didn’t stop at that. He went on to decry how all the PCB managed was a couple of fellows “from Afreeka.”
The rest of the country, understandably, was not amused, leading to a lot of trolling on social media, with the usual defenders of the PTI completely mum this time.
Here, we look at four of the phateechers Afreekis who took a chance on Pakistani cricket when fellow cricketers backed out of the final.
Darren Sammy
Few men can claim captaining their country to a world title win. Even fewer can claim to have done it more than once. In the West Indies there are two such men, Clive Lloyd and Peshawar Zalmi’s very own Darren Sammy.
The first international player to emerge from the small island nation of St Lucia, Darren Sammy has become a name synonymous with excellent leadership, and sheer cricketing power. Although he was initially billed as a right-arm medium fast bowler, the image of Sammy extending his long arms to hit one clean over the fence has become iconic all over the world.
More so his wins over Sri Lanka in the 2012 T20 World Cup and India in the 2016 T20 World Cup have made him a Windies legend. And despite Imran Khan’s similar status in Pakistan, he can’t quite claim to have won 2 World Cups.
Or perhaps he can? Perhaps he can share flashy infographics on his twitter account.
Batting and fielding averages
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
| Tests | 38 | 63 | 2 | 1323 | 106 | 21.68 | 1949 | 67.88 | 1 | 5 | 157 | 34 | 65 | 0 |
| ODIs | 126 | 105 | 30 | 1871 | 89 | 24.94 | 1870 | 100.05 | 0 | 9 | 145 | 84 | 67 | 0 |
| T20Is | 66 | 50 | 16 | 534 | 42* | 15.70 | 359 | 148.74 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 27 | 30 | 0 |
Bowling averages
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
| Tests | 38 | 65 | 6215 | 3007 | 84 | 7/66 | 8/98 | 35.79 | 2.90 | 73.9 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| ODIs | 126 | 119 | 4956 | 3851 | 81 | 4/26 | 4/26 | 47.54 | 4.66 | 61.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T20Is | 66 | 57 | 880 | 1068 | 44 | 5/26 | 5/26 | 24.27 | 7.28 | 20.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Marlon Samuels
The West Indian middle order batsman was not at his best during the second edition of the PSL when he played for eventual title winners Peshawar Zalmi. However despite his lackluster form, the hard hitting and immensely talented Jamaican batsmen has achievements under his belt that some of the best players in the world only dream of achieving.
The extent of his destructiveness was on full display in the 2012 T20 World Cup final where he held his nerve to take his team to a decent total after an early collapse, scoring a quickfire 75. He made 85 against England in the 2016 final, leading his team to victory and showing a steady head in tough situations.
He is also a useful part time spinner that was part of the onslaught that defeated Sri Lanka in their own backyard in 2012.
Batting and fielding averages
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
| Tests | 71 | 127 | 7 | 3917 | 260 | 32.64 | 8219 | 47.65 | 7 | 24 | 537 | 32 | 28 | 0 |
| ODIs | 187 | 177 | 26 | 5180 | 133* | 34.30 | 6794 | 76.24 | 10 | 28 | 491 | 110 | 50 | 0 |
| T20Is | 51 | 49 | 8 | 1186 | 85* | 28.92 | 1016 | 116.73 | 0 | 9 | 106 | 48 | 10 | 0 |
Bowling averages
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
| Tests | 71 | 69 | 4392 | 2445 | 41 | 4/13 | 6/50 | 59.63 | 3.34 | 107.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ODIs | 187 | 126 | 4901 | 3932 | 85 | 3/25 | 3/25 | 46.25 | 4.81 | 57.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T20Is | 51 | 26 | 434 | 561 | 19 | 3/23 | 3/23 | 29.52 | 7.75 | 22.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Chris Jordan
As with the players from the West Indies, Mr Khan perhaps needs to realise that not all people of colour belong to Africa. He was as confused about Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy as he was once about MQM leader Babar Ghauri, and he similarly doesn’t seem to understand that Chris Jordan is an emerging fast bowler that plays for the England Cricket Team.
The up and coming pacer has been marked as one to watch out for especially after impressive showings against India at the Oval and a couple of belligerent burst with the bat down the order.
Although his career had at times been marred by injuries and inconsistency, ever since bursting on to the international arena, Jordan has proved to be a powerhouse set to dominate England cricket for years to come if he stays on track.
Bowling averages
| Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
| Tests | 8 | 16 | 1530 | 752 | 21 | 4/18 | 7/50 | 35.80 | 2.94 | 72.8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ODIs | 31 | 31 | 1532 | 1521 | 43 | 5/29 | 5/29 | 35.37 | 5.95 | 35.6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| T20Is | 22 | 22 | 462 | 666 | 26 | 4/28 | 4/28 | 25.61 | 8.64 | 17.7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Morne van Wyk
Wyk is in South African cricket what Stuart MacGill was in the Australian circuit: extremely talented and thoroughly unlucky in the era of his birth.
The right-hand batsmen with the high back-lift and the ability to score quick runs was run out of the South African side by the phenomenal AB Devillers and later opening batsmen Quinton de Kock.
The naturally aggressive player is best known in the cricketing world for his versatility and calm head under pressure situations. And while he was out cheaply for Quetta Gladiators, much like the rest of the team, under the situation he was a more than solid replacement for the players that did not come to Lahore, and his stats show off his prowess.
Batting and fielding averages
| Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
| ODIs | 17 | 17 | 1 | 425 | 82 | 26.56 | 617 | 68.88 | 0 | 4 | 48 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| T20Is | 8 | 7 | 1 | 225 | 114* | 37.50 | 157 | 143.31 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 1 |
| First-class | 155 | 264 | 39 | 8593 | 200* | 38.19 | 20 | 41 | 405 | 16 | ||||
| List A | 239 | 232 | 25 | 8381 | 175* | 40.48 | 23 | 39 | 220 | 25 | ||||
| Twenty20 | 126 | 121 | 14 | 3335 | 114* | 31.16 | 2703 | 123.38 | 1 | 22 | 367 | 84 | 82 | 21 |
