Faheem Ashraf began his career with aspirations of fast bowling, but it is as a lower-order left-handed batsman - the good old-fashioned pinch hitter - that he has introduced himself in international cricket. He blazed away to an unbeaten 64 off 30 balls against a Bangladesh side playing its best cricket in 2016-17 to upstage them in a warm-up match just before the 2017 Champions Trophy. That innings wasn't a one-off for Ashraf, who has built a reputation for explosive hitting while batting with the tail; it especially impressed his mentor Tauseef Ahmed, who fast-tracked him to the international side.

Ashraf belongs to that breed of cricketers that South Asian teams look for: the seam-bowling allrounder. He has enjoyed success with the ball in both first-class, where he averages 26.93 and has five five-wicket hauls, and List A cricket, where he averages 24.91. What makes Ashraf's emergence particularly timely is that he seems to embody the two things Pakistan need most in limited-overs cricket - a power hitter and an allrounder. Only time will tell if Ashraf is just another flash in an already scorched Pakistani pan, but just the possibility that he may not be makes him a cricketer worth watching out for.
Danyal Rasool