Sohaib Maqsood: “In [the] last few years, I wished to see Sharjeel Khan and Fakhar Zaman as T20 openers, that never happened”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Sohaib Maqsood admitted he wanted to see Fakhar Zaman and Sharjeel Khan opening the batting in T20Is over the past few years.
Zaman and Sharjeel are both left-handed powerhouses who can smash the ball a long way.
While Zaman has been in and around the national team as of late, the same can’t be said for Sharjeel, who last played international cricket in August 2021.
Both players recently featured in the Champions T20 Cup, with Zaman amassing 303 runs in 10 matches for the Markhors, which included two fifties, at an average of 30.30.
As for Sharjeel, he only managed to muster 46 runs in four games for the Panthers at an average of 11.50.
“In [the] last few years, I wished to see Sharjeel Khan and Fakhar Zaman as T20 openers, that never happened,” Maqsood said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan recently travelled to Australia and won the ODI series 2-1 before being demolished 3-0 in the T20Is.
The men in green then went to Zimbabwe and came out on top 2-1 in both the ODI and T20I series.
They are now taking on South Africa and lost the T20I series 2-0 before triumphing 3-0 in the ODIs.
Pakistan and South Africa are currently facing each other in a two-Test series, which started on December 26 in Centurion.
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