Pakistan batsman Fakhar Zaman: “My effort was to bat for longer durations in training. Our normal process as a cricketer, which has been going on for years, was the same for me”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zaman said he was able to overcome his poor form by batting for “longer durations in training.”
Zaman was dropped after Pakistan’s opening game during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup before making a return later on in the tournament.
Having been given another chance, the 33-year-old made the most of it and smashed 81 and 126 not out against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
Following the World Cup, Zaman played in the National T20 Cup and amassed 320 runs in eight matches for Abbottabad Region, which included three fifties, at an average of 45.71 and a strike-rate of 135.02.
“My effort was to bat for longer durations in training. Our normal process as a cricketer, which has been going on for years, was the same for me,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Zaman was not picked for Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, where the men in green were whitewashed 3-0.
He is now playing in Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand and made 15 runs in the first match, which Pakistan lost by 46 runs.
He followed that up with 50 runs off 25 balls, which included three boundaries and five sixes, in the second T20I, which the men in green lost by 21 runs.
The third T20I will be held on January 17 in Dunedin.
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