Ramiz Raja: “The big problem is Fakhar Zaman”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, believes that opening batsman Fakhar Zaman is “the big problem” for the national team right now.
Zaman hasn’t been in the best form lately and his lack of runs at the top of the order has been a concern for quite some time.
Ramiz noted that captain Babar Azam and the coaching staff need to make a decision and take some action on whether they plan to continue backing the 33-year-old from Mardan or replace him with someone else.
“The big problem is Fakhar Zaman,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Zaman got the opportunity to play in Pakistan’s World Cup opener against the Netherlands, but only made 12 runs.
He was subsequently replaced by Abdullah Shafique, which indicates that the men in green could be moving on from him for the time being until he regains his form.
Shafique made a career-best 113 against Sri Lanka and followed it up with scores of 20 and 64 against India and Australia respectively.
Pakistan defeated the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, but then lost to India and Australia.
Having suffered back-to-back losses, the men in green will be eager to secure a win when they go up against Afghanistan on October 23 in Chennai.
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