This blog offers all the information you need about Khawaja Nafay.The complete name of Khawaja Nafay is Khawaja Muhammad Nafay. He was born on February 13, 2002, in Karachi.
Early Cricket Journey
He started his cricket journey from street cricket. The first time he saw hardball cricket was when he visited a ground, where he encountered the hardball for the first time. Watching cricket on TV and experiencing it in real life inspired him deeply.The sports career of Khawaja Nafay is evident from the fact that he is a talented Pakistani player who has achieved success after a lot of struggle in the beginning and can represent Pakistan in the future
Future Star Academy – A Hub of Rising Cricket Stars
One of Khawaja Nafay’s cousins, who used to play cricket himself, took him to a coach named Liaqat, who later became Khawaja Nafay’s personal coach. The professional cricket beginning for Khawaja Nafay ended when he joined Future Star Academy. His coaches at Future Star Academy saw his talent for batting first and recommended that he stop bowling. This was the turning point in Khawaja Nafay’s batting career.
Future Star Academy is the same place where former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed once played.
Start of Professional Career & India Tour Selection
In 2015, Khawaja Nafay started his professional cricket career by playing for Karachi’s Under-16 regional team. Later, he was about to join the Indian team, and his trials had already been conducted. His coach took him to the selection camp, where the team selection was taking place. However, when they arrived,
the selectors told them that the final selection had already been made and they would not be choosing any more players. Despite this, due to Nafay’s insistence, they allowed him to showcase his batting skills. After facing just 4-5 balls, he was selected for the India tour.
During the India tour,Nafay could not deliver an exceptional performance. After returning from India, he played for Karachi’s Under-16 regional team and scored a fifty in 6-7 matches. He played for one year, then moved to the Under-19 team. However, he could not perform well in Under-19 either. This led him to lose confidence, but his coach Liaqat motivated him by saying:
Role of Coach Liaqat & Family Support in Nafay’s Career
Your actual target remains to play for Pakistan despite passing through Under-16 and Under-19 teams. Your cricket career has many years ahead of you yet.With this encouragement, Khawaja Nafay’s family also supported him fully, helping him regain his motivation.
Breakthrough in BPL
Nafay became the first-ever player to be selected for the BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) without playing any domestic matches. The video received widespread popularity on Facebook with more than 4 million people watching it.Later, Khawaja Nafay played in the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) but couldn’t deliver a remarkable performance. After that, he participated in the Ramzan Cup, where he performed well.
Khawaja Nafay’s PSL Debut – A New Star Emerges
Ramzan Cup performance caught the attention of Nadeem Umar, the owner of Quetta Gladiators. Seeing his talent, he picked Khawaja Nafay for Pakistan Super League (PSL), making his PSL debut for Quetta Gladiators.
During his debut PSL game Khawaja Nafay faced Lahore Qalandars bowlers and blasted 60 runs off 31 balls while also ending the match without getting out. During his second PSL match Nafay supported Quetta Gladiators four-year drought by putting them first on the points table. He maintained his success in PSL matches.
Recently, former Pakistan captain and star cricketer Shahid Khan Afridi invited Khawaja Nafay for batting training. There, Afridi taught him power-hitting techniques for the middle order. Khawaja Nafay gained valuable experience from this training, and it significantly improved his game.khawaja nafay stats is very good in psl
