Ramiz Raja: “You can trust his talent here with eyes closed”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain, believes opener Fakhar Zaman’s talent can be trusted “with eyes closed” when the national team plays in subcontinent conditions.
He noted that Zaman has no problems playing on such pitches and has a tendency to score big runs.
During Pakistan’s five-match ODI series against New Zealand on home soil, the 33-year-old from Mardan was in devastating form as he smashed 363 runs, which included two hundreds, at an average of 90.75.
“You can trust his talent here with eyes closed,” Ramiz said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricwick.
Zaman has since played in the Global T20 Canada, where he scored 161 runs in six games for the Vancouver Knights, which included a top score of 73, at an average of 26.83 and a strike-rate of 119.25.
He was recently in action for B-Love Kandy in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), where he accumulated 156 runs in seven matches at an average of 22.28 and a strike-rate of 113.86.
Zaman wasn’t part of Pakistan’s squad that beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in a two-match Test series.
He is, however, in the side for the ongoing three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, which is being held in Sri Lanka.
Following this, the men in green will be involved in the Asia Cup, which will be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
Pakistan Squad for Afghanistan ODI Series and 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel (Afghanistan series only), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr