Shadab Khan: “We wanted to give him mental space. We’ll always support him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan spinner Shadab Khan said the team wanted to give opening batsman Fakhar Zaman some “mental space” while he has been struggling to score runs.
Zaman played in the first game of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup against the Netherlands, but was dismissed for 12 runs.
He was subsequently dropped and replaced by Abdullah Shafique, who went on to dominate by accumulating 336 runs in eight games, which includes a century and three fifties, at an average of 42.
Zaman missed the next five matches, but returned to take Imam-ul-Haq’s spot and had a massive impact as he smashed 81 and 126 not out against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
Even though the 33-year-old’s future in the team still uncertain, Shadab made it clear that he and the other players will always be there for him.
“We wanted to give him mental space. We’ll always support him,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan kicked off the World Cup with victories over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing their next four games against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite fighting back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
To add insult to injury, they lost their final group stage match against England by 93 runs.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against Australia, but Shadab and Zaman were not included in the 18-man squad that was announced.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will begin on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
[TS_Poll id=”65″]