Inzamam-ul-Haq: “Zaman Khan has done well with the white ball but he lacks experience in 50-over games, but he does have the potential as we have seen in T20 games where he has performed well”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan chief selector, said he sees plenty of potential in pace bowler Zaman Khan, but noted that the young talent “lacks experience in 50-over games.”
Zaman has represented Pakistan in six T20Is and taken four wickets at an average of 32.50 and an economy rate of 6.66.
He also made his ODI debut in Pakistan’s must-win match against Sri Lanka during the Asia Cup, but that was due to the fact that the pace duo of Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were both ruled out with injuries.
The 22-year-old went wicketless in that match, which the men in green lost and subsequently missed out on making the final.
While Inzamam sees great promise in the Mirpur native, he wants Zaman to get more game time in 50-over cricket, possibly by playing List A matches.
“Zaman Khan has done well with the white ball but he lacks experience in 50-over games, but he does have the potential as we have seen in T20 games where he has performed well,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan recently beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series and Afghanistan 3-0 in an ODI series before featuring in the Asia Cup.
They are now involved in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, where they got off to a strong start after beating the Netherlands by 81 runs and Sri Lanka by six wickets, during which they chased down a target of 345, making it the highest successful run chase in World Cup history.
However, Pakistan’s unbeaten run was ended when India crushed them by seven wickets.
Their next match will be against Australia on October 20 in Bengaluru.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali