Mohammad Rizwan: “Fakhar is a game-changer, his runs have made a big difference”
Image taken by Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan limited overs captain Mohammad Rizwan has acknowledged the importance of having Fakhar Zaman in the team, saying “his runs have made a big difference”.
Zaman has played a number of match-winning knocks in the past, which prompted Rizwan to classify him as a “game-changer”.
The 34-year-old has found himself in trouble as of late as he criticised the decision to remove Babar Azam from the Test team midway through the three-match series against England.
This move resulted in him not receiving a central contract for the 2024/25 season. It also led to him being dropped for the limited overs series against Australia and Zimbabwe.
“Fakhar is a game-changer, his runs have made a big difference,” Rizwan was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
During their series against Australia, Pakistan won the ODI leg 2-1 to secure their first ODI series win in the country since 2002.
However, things didn’t go as well in the T20I series as they were whitewashed 3-0.
Pakistan then travelled to Zimbabwe and triumphed 2-1 in the ODI series and 2-1 in the T20I series as well.
Next up for the men in green will be a tour of South Africa, where they will play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests.
The T20I series will get underway on December 10, while the ODI and Test series will begin on December 17 and December 26 respectively.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
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