Ramiz Raja: “His body language is looking shocking”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has slammed opening batsman Fakhar Zaman for his shocking body language.
Zaman has been nowhere near his best in the past couple of months, which led to him losing his place in the playing XI.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, he was replaced by Abdullah Shafique, which sparked speculation that he could be dropped from the Pakistan team very soon.
While this didn’t happen as Zaman returned to smash 81 and 126 not out against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively, Ramiz still didn’t like the fact that the 33-year-old from Mardan showed little fight while he went through a tough time.
“His body language is looking shocking,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Zaman was not picked for Pakistan’s ongoing three-match Test series against Australia and instead featured for Abbottabad Region in the National T20 Cup, where he amassed 320 runs in eight matches, which included three fifties, at an average of 45.71 and a strike-rate of 135.02.
Pakistan are 2-0 down in their Test series against Australia and will be looking to end their tour on a high by claiming a consolation win in the third Test, which starts on January 3 in Sydney.
Zaman is set to return to action soon as he was selected for Pakistan’s upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which begins on January 12 in Auckland.
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, Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan