Scott Styris: “Fakhar Zaman is a little hit and miss”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris has admitted that Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zaman has been “a little hit and miss.”
Zaman’s inconsistency has been a big concern for the men in green as he was one of their go-to openers in ODI cricket.
In the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, Pakistan actually dropped the 33-year-old after their opening match against the Netherlands in favour of Abdullah Shafique, who has since gone on to score 332 runs in six matches, which includes a century and three fifties, at an average of 55.33.
Zaman did make a comeback in the Bangladesh game and smashed 81 runs off 74 balls, which included three boundaries and seven sixes.
He followed that up with a stunning 126 not out against New Zealand, which came off 81 deliveries and included eight boundaries and 11 sixes.
Despite this, Styris noted that the Mardan native needs to show he can consistently score runs over a long period of time.
“Fakhar Zaman is a little hit and miss,” Styris told Sky Sports NZ as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan started their World Cup campaign with victories over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They broke that four-game winless run with a convincing seven-wicket win over Bangladesh before defeating New Zealand by 21 runs via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Since Pakistan are still in the race to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals, they will be determined to pick up their third win in a row they face England on November 11 in Kolkata.
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