Sunil Gavaskar: “They don’t have a very settled middle order. In the T20I matches they played before, Fakhar Zaman played at No. 3 or 4. Now he is part of the squad, but not in the XI”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary India batsman Sunil Gavaskar has demanded answers from Pakistan captain Babar Azam over the treatment of Fakhar Zaman.
Zaman, who is an opener but has started coming in at number three or four, has constantly been in and out of the team.
Gavaskar pointed out that prior to the 2022 T20 World Cup, the 32-year-old was in Pakistan’s T20I team.
However, when the World Cup squad was announced, he was just a reserve player.
Zaman eventually got included in the main team, but only played one match in the tournament as he aggravated a knee injury that ended up ruling him out.
Gavaskar noted that the men in green don’t have a “very settled middle order”, which is something Azam has to fix.
“They don’t have a very settled middle order. In the T20I matches they played before, Fakhar Zaman played at No. 3 or 4. Now he is part of the squad, but not in the XI,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
READ MORE: Fakhar Zaman says he wants to open the batting with Sharjeel Khan
Zaman is part of Pakistan’s side for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand, which begins on Monday in Karachi.
The ODIs come after the two sides played a two-Test series, which finished as a 0-0 draw.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand ODI series: Babar Azam (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Agha Salman, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Usama Mir