Saeed Ajmal: “Tremendous batting display by Fakhar Zaman with a rain of sixes”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Newly-appointed Pakistan spin bowling coach Saeed Ajmal said it has been raining sixes lately when opening batsman Fakhar Zaman has batted.
Zaman’s form going into the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup was a real problem as he was struggling to score runs.
The 33-year-old ended up being dropped after the first game against the Netherlands and missed the next five matches.
When he ultimately returned to the playing XI, he made the most of the opportunity as he smashed 81 and 126 not out against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
“Tremendous batting display by Fakhar Zaman with a rain of sixes,” Ajmal said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan started off with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, it was not enough to get them into the semi-finals.
To add insult to injury, the men in green lost their last group stage match against England by 93 runs.
Pakistan will now face Australia in a three-match Test series, but Zaman was not included in the squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia gets underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series:Â 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