Mickey Arthur: “It was tough not having him at the start. His form coming into the competition was a little bit patchy”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Recently removed Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur has conceded that it was a tough decision to drop big-hitting opener Fakhar Zaman during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Zaman featured in the opening match against the Netherlands, but since his poor run of form with the bat continued, he was axed from the playing XI and missed the next five matches.
The 33-year-old eventually returned to take Imam-ul-Haq’s spot and had an instant impact as he walloped 81 and 126 not out against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
Arthur defended the decision to drop Zaman, saying his form had not been up to par for quite some time.
“It was tough not having him at the start. His form coming into the competition was a little bit patchy,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan won their first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing four straight to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to take down Bangladesh and New Zealand, they could not advance to the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign on a sour note as England crushed them by 93 runs.
Pakistan will now play a three-match Test series against Australia, but Zaman was not included in the squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will get 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