Aaqib Javed: “Fakhar Zaman is a class player and is one of PSL’s top batters, and he will soon be back to form”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Lahore Qalandars head coach Aaqib Javed has brushed off concerns about Pakistan top order batsman Fakhar Zaman’s form, insisting that there is nothing to worry about.
Zaman hasn’t been at his best for a couple of months as he scored 126 runs in five T20Is against New Zealand in January, which included a top score of 50, at an average of 25.20 and a strike-rate of 165.78.
In the ongoing 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), he wasn’t up to scratch either as he was restricted to 157 runs in eight matches, which included a top score of 54, at an average of 19.62 and a strike-rate of 115.44.
Despite his poor performance in PSL 9, Aaqib defended Zaman and expressed confidence that the 33-year-old from Mardan will get back to his best in the near future.
“Fakhar Zaman is a class player and is one of PSL’s top batters, and he will soon be back to form,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
The Qalandars won the PSL in 2022 and 2023, but finished at the bottom of the points table this year as they only won one of the 10 games they played.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 9: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sahibzada Farhan, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Imran, Ahsan Hafeez, Dan Lawrence, Jahandad Khan, Syed Faridoun, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Tayyab Abbas