Younis Khan: “Who is that one player in the side who is leaving his opening slot and batting down at four or five or six? Who is sacrificing his place? Fakhar Zaman! Why won’t you make him the captain?”
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Iconic Pakistan batsman Younis Khan has questioned why Fakhar Zaman can’t replace Babar Azam as captain.
He noted that Zaman has performed well and enjoyed success in World Cups too.
On top of this, Younis pointed out that the 34-year-old willingly sacrificed his opening spot in order to bat at number four in T20Is.
It remains to be seen if Azam continues on as limited overs skipper, but even though names like Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi have been floated as potential successors, Younis reiterated that Zaman is an ideal candidate in his mind.
“Why can’t Fakhar Zaman be the captain of the side? Isn’t he a performer? Didn’t he do well in the last 50-over World Cup? Who is that one player who gave us hope? Zaman started the 2023 World Cup in India poorly. However, in the second half [he] turned his form around which coincided with Pakistan’s success,” the 46-year-old was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“Who is that one player in the side who is leaving his opening slot and batting down at four or five or six? Who is sacrificing his place? Fakhar Zaman! Why won’t you make him the captain?”
Zaman recently represented Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup and mustered 33 runs in four matches at an average of 8.25 and a strike-rate of 110.
The men in green began with back-to-back losses to the United States of America and India before fighting back to beat Canada and Ireland.
However, those victories went in vain as they were knocked out in the group stage of the tournament.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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