Ramiz Raja: “He’s a good player, Pakistan has given him chances”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain, said opening batsman Fakhar Zaman had his chances to prove his worth as he stares down the barrel of potentially being dropped from the team.
Zaman has already lost his place in the playing XI in the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup to Abdullah Shafique.
With the 33-year-old’s future unclear right now, Ramiz pointed out that the Mardan native only has himself to blame as he was given numerous opportunities to fire.
“He’s a good player, Pakistan has given him chances,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Zaman got a chance to shine in Pakistan’s World Cup opener against the Netherlands, but he failed to impress as he was dismissed for 12 runs.
Shafique subsequently took Zaman’s spot and made an immediate impact as he smashed a career-best 113 against Sri Lanka.
He followed that up with scores of 20 and 64 against India and Australia respectively.
Pakistan defeated both the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before being beaten by India, Australia and Afghanistan.
Their next match will be against South Africa on October 27 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