Anil Kumble: “He’s your experienced batter, you want him to get into form and you need to play Fakhar Zaman”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary India spinner Anil Kumble said Pakistan “need to play” opening batsman Fakhar Zaman for the remainder of their matches in the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Zaman was dropped after the opening game against the Netherlands due to his prolonged run of bad form.
However, after missing the next five games, he returned to the playing XI at the expense of Imam-ul-Haq and has done brilliantly as he smashed 81 and 126 not out against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
Kumble noted that even prior to this, the 33-year-old showed some encouraging signs as he was getting off to starts before losing his concentration and gifting his wicket to the opposition.
“He’s your experienced batter, you want him to get into form and you need to play Fakhar Zaman and hope that he comes into form and gets some runs under his belt. He’s had those starts, it’s not that he’s getting out in [the] first over, he’s getting those twenties, even in the Asia Cup he got those twenties and then he was throwing his wicket away. So, that’s something he needs to perhaps work on,” he told ESPNcricinfo.
Pakistan kicked off their World Cup campaign with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before stumbling against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Thanks to Zaman, they ended up bouncing back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
Pakistan’s last World Cup group stage match will be against 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