Shane Watson: “There are not too many batters in the world who can do that to that ball”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson believes Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman is one of only a few batsmen who can smash monster sixes.
Zaman displayed his awesome power-hitting towards the latter parts of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup after initially being dropped.
The 33-year-old lost his place in the playing XI following the opening game against the Netherlands and subsequently missed the next five matches.
However, he was recalled to replace fellow opener Imam-ul-Haq and unleashed two epic performances in a row as he hammered 81 and 126 not out against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
Watson, who was in the commentary box during Zaman’s blistering knock against Bangladesh, was in awe of his six-hitting skills.
“There are not too many batters in the world who can do that to that ball,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Pakistan won their first two World Cup matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before suffering four straight defeats at the hands of India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to make it through to the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign on sour note as England thumped them by 93 runs.
Pakistan will now face Australia in a three-match Test series, but Zaman was not included in the 18-man squad named for the tour.
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