PSL: Meet Khawaja Nafay, Facebook Talent Turns Hero Of Quetta Gladiators

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Pakistan is known for its extraordinary cricketing talent over the years. However, the country's franchise league PSL saw the advent of a new talent Khawaja Nafay, who scored a half-century under pressure for Quetta Gladiators to post a win over two-time champions Quetta Gladiators.

What made this knock extra special was that Khawaja Nafay is a 22-year-old young talent, who was identified by Quetta Gladiators through his popularity on Facebook and decided to pick him at the PSL draft 2024 late last year.

Khawaja Nafay, who scored a 31-ball 60 to help Quetta chase down 188 runs with five balls to spare in match 4 of PSL 2024, has over 56,000 followers on Facebook and has 25,000-plus likes. The Karachi-based youngster gained popularity by posting his videos on the social media platform.

"He comes from Karachi," said Quetta Gladiators 'keeper Khawaja Nafay after the win in Lahore. "His videos were added on Facebook, that's how he was picked. He played a few games in the Bangladesh Premier League last year. He has worked hard, he has played his cricket in Karachi. Glad that he got an opportunity here."

Khawaja Nafay came on the crease at a crucial juncture when Quetta Gladiators lost their two openers in quick succession with 72 runs on the board. Everyone naturally expected Quetta captain Rilee Rossouw to lead the chase but the South Africans fell after scoring a 13-ball 18.

His stay, however, was enough for the right-handed batter to get set on the crease as Khawaja Nafay soon started with his boundary-per-over strategy, maintaining the required rate with 9-10 runs. All of Sarfaraz Khan, Sherfane Rutherford and Akeal Hosein played second fiddle to the Khwaja during their short stays on the crease.

He scored the winning run at the beginning of the final over and was given a word of praise by losing captain Shaheen Afridi, who is also T20 captain of Pakistan, on the pitch.

"He (Khawaja Nafay) played superbly and Pakistan cricket is in safe hands. I also came from PSL as an emerging player and Nafay has played brilliantly. I think he played beautifully and has got a bright future," said Afridi at the post-match presentation ceremony.