Unless living under a rock, you must’ve seen a movie where a geeky computer nerd helps the security forces in an anti-crime operation of biblical proportions. He is the method to their madness; the ethical hacker who signs up for a job way above his paygrade in the interest of the nation. He still has to navigate an online maze to find out the whereabouts of the bugs, a core difference though is that the troubleshooting process will involve guns and machetes. When the elements harmful to society are neutralized, he celebrates the success of the mission in a digitally-equipped war room. His chest, full of pride for being a valuable citizen, is touched soon by the medal ribbon as journalists flock around to interview the mastermind behind the mayhem. An equally potent dance of fire and ice is happening in the Pakistan Super League.
Built like an ox, Sahibzada Farhan is a six-hitting machine. He isn’t modest about being the first batter to tonk three sixes off Jasprit Bumrah in T20Is, having released a documentary in the afterglow of that performance in Asia Cup 2025. Born and brought up in Charsadda, an epicenter of mob violence and religious extremism, his fifty celebration stoked the ire of his neighbours for its political motivation. A streak of chutzpah runs through his veins while he goes about his stand-and-deliver business, imposing himself on the opposition one thwack at a time. His opening partner at Multan Sultans, Steve Smith doesn’t come from the school of hard knocks albeit he has played umpteen of those for Australia in the whites.
Growing up in the Sutherland Shire, Sydney’s premier residential region, Smith’s childhood was marked by organization. His father Peter was deeply invested into his dream of earning the Baggy Green, and cricketing intricacies like a bat’s pick-up and a leggie’s grip were discussed even before the Adam’s apple had an opportunity to grow. At 17, he moved to England, turning up for Sevenoaks Vine in Kent. Smith’s eventual transition from an exciting spinner to the most prolific run-getter brought to the fore his eccentricities, a testimony to his deep education of the sport. Be it the plethora of gloves in his touring kit, the clever capitalization of an illegitimate delivery when New Zealand messed up the field, a soft nurdle to pinch an IPL thriller on the virtue of boundary count, or the eye-black strips inspired by Shivnarine Chanderpaul that block the glare in pink-ball Tests, few pay attention to details better than Smith although he once grossly underestimated the camera’s ability for the same.
In an interesting twist of fate, the roughhouse opener who prides himself on taking the match by the scruff of its neck is linking up with the orderly workhorse whose power game is not the sharpest tool in the box. Babar Azam was, hence, not entirely unjustified in blowing a gasket in the BBL upon the denial of strike by Smith, notwithstanding the 41-ball century he went on to achieve. Flown in as cover, he did not feature in a single match at the T20 World Cup 2026 and historically struggled to nudge his name towards the pantheon of greats in the format. It is a function of his modus operandi; of constructing an innings rather than teeing off right away. By and large, anchors are no longer a part of the T20 vocabulary, but Multan Sultans have paired Smith with an enforcer at the top to form an alliance that’s working like a charm.
Complementary skill is the keyphrase in the flourishment of this union. Smith was hot off the blocks against Quetta Gladiators, using the pace of Alzarri Joseph dexterously to fetch runs behind square on the leg side. Tom Curran’s introduction into the attack saw an assortment of gems along the carpet from his willow, an easy acceleration that left Farhan feeling a tad bit alienated, perhaps. Brute force made an appearance at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore once Farhan tore into Abrar Ahmed, dragging balls from the wide-line to send them flying downtown. When Usman Tariq erred in length, he rocked on the backfoot and slapped the long hop so callously that mid-off had a higher chance of witnessing absolute democracy in Pakistan than intercepting that missile.
On the odd occasion Smith tried to muscle the ball, his limitation was revealed in the most poetic fashion. He got enough wood on the slog to threaten a six, but Rilee Rossouw and Hasan Nawaz came up with a tag-team spectacle on the rope, an almost half-a-dozen that showed how thickset biffers get away with miscues and others don’t. Even in the latest clash versus Rawalpindiz, Smith’s attempt to manufacture a hoick landed in the palms of a forward-diving Abdullah Fazal. The solid ting of leather on willow reverberates, in his case, mostly when he aims to focus on timing and placement. Take, for instance, the sixes over cow corner opposite Hyderabad Kingsmen as all three checkboxes imperative to strength generation – base, balance, bat speed – were duly ticked.
Farhan is a free bird in that regard. He flexed his muscles to hoist Maheesh Theekshana over covers despite his weight falling back due to the horizontal maneuver. The contact was closer to the toe end as compared to the sweet spot, but the fact that the ball travelled many a mile speaks volumes of his vigour. It is this harmonious dovetailing of finesse and ferocity that has taken Multan Sultans to the zenith of the table, with Farhan clubbing 17 sixes en route his tally of 232 runs in five matches while Smith threads the gaps in the PowerPlay thanks to his sublime hand-eye coordination. “My combination with Farhan has become quite strong. Our starts have been good. Farhan is a quality player,” said the protagonist of the partnership that has 230 to its credit.
With four wins out of five, Multan Sultans have rubberstamped their credentials as the early tournament favourites, and the contribution of their openers cannot be overstated. They’re not two peas in a pod, but the merging of their individualities has birthed an unstoppable juggernaut. Much like the techie’s collaboration with the government to save his brethren.
