Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is all set to drop star left-handed top-order batter Fakhar Zaman for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia. Pakistan will face Australia in three ODIs and as many T20Is during the three-week tour next month, which starts on November 4 in Melbourne with ODI series first. According to a report in Cricket Pakistan on Saturday, Fakhar, who was Pakistan’s best batter in last year’s ODI World Cup, will not be picked for the Australia tour due to ongoing knee problems, because of which he also failed the recent fitness test.
It has been reported that his tweet in favour of Babar Azam after the 30-year-old batter was dropped from Pakistan’s Test team also didn’t go down well with some senior board members, and because of that also he will be ignored. A disciplinary action has also been taken against him.
According to Cricket Pakistan sources, “Fakhar recently failed a fitness test upon his return from a long trip back from the West Indies, where he was tasked with completing a 2-kilometre run in 8 minutes—a challenge he could not meet. He is currently dealing with knee issues. Although he is fit to play matches and has been participating in domestic cricket, placing additional strain on his knee could lead to a serious injury.”
“While Aaqib Javed has relaxed the fitness standards for team selection, Fakhar’s candid remarks during the recent connection camp regarding his No Objection Certificate (NOC) did not sit well with certain top board officials (excluding the chairman),” the report added.
Fakhar, who has scored a double century (210*) for Pakistan in ODI cricket, was the favourite to succeed Babar as captain of Pakistan’s ODI team, but now, after recent developments, his place in the side is even not guaranteed.
Babar stepped down from Pakistan’s ODI captaincy last year in November after Men in Green failed to qualify for ODI World Cup semi-finals. Pakistan hasn’t played an ODI match since the ODI World Cup 2023, because of which there was no need to appoint a new captain. But now a new player will take charge of the team and lead them in the Australia tour.
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