Sohail Khan

A raw late swinger of the red-ball who bowls at a lively pace, Sohail Khan is one of the many cricketers who have benefitted from the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA). Sohail Khan, popularly known as Sohail Pathan in the domestic circuit, played his junior cricket in Karachi after moving from Malakand.

After a year of practicing in the nets and working on his fitness on a consistent basis, Sohail Khan had a demolishing entry and gained instant stardom in his maiden first-class season in 2007 for Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC). He took 21 wickets in his first few matches for the club which led to the promotion of the team into first-class cricket shortly afterward.

Khan made his first-class debut playing for SSGC in the 2007-08 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy against the Pakistani Customs on October 26, 2007. He dazzled everyone on his debut picking up a five-wicket haul in both innings, finishing the game with figures of 10/134. The Malakand-born pacer took 16 wickets against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and finished the season with 65 wickets including eight five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls.

Khan cranked it up in the 2007-08 Pentangular Cup when he scalped 23 wickets and ended the season as the Bowler of the Tournament with a total tally of 91 wickets in 14 games in his debut first-class season. After a splendid debut season, Khan made his debut against Zimbabwe in the fourth game of the five-match ODI series picking up just one wicket. He made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in February 2009 at Karachi but again disappointed his fans after going wicketless. Failing to cement a spot in the national side, Khan hopped in and out of the squad due to his inconsistency at the international level. 

His patience had sowed seeds in the national side when he was called up for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. Khan made a stunning return against India in the World Cup picking up a fifer and was on the hat-trick in the last over after dismissing the Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane in the last over. However, he ended up on the losing side. Khan became the second-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in the prestigious tournament .

His return to Test cricket after a period of 5 years was questioned by the critics but he silenced them up after taking two five-wicket hauls in two successive games that he played. Impressing the cricket fraternity in the World Cup, he was drafted into the Karachi Kings squad before the 2016 edition of PSL and showed his faith by winning the Maroon Cap in 2017. He hasn’t played any international game since September 2017. His last selection to the squad was against England in July 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With his age, most of the prime time of his career is over but his flare in league cricket is still haunting batsmen from all over the country.

(As of March 2021)