Salman Butt: “Fakhar’s role is extravagance, he has to take risks and the consistency will be minimised”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said big-hitting batsman Fakhar Zaman “has to take risks” as it is what his role demands.
Zaman has had plenty of impressive performances over the years, but questions have also been raised about his consistency when it comes to scoring runs.
However, Salman defended the 34-year-old, insisting “his consistency is more than enough”, especially considering he generally has a play a more attacking brand of cricket.
“My role brings consistency and demands playing till the end. Fakhar’s role is extravagance, he has to take risks and the consistency will be minimised. We want extremes in everything, we want one person to dance like Michael Jackson, sing like Noor Jahan and also pray 5 times. Fakhar has a certain game and in that role, his consistency is more than enough. With two new balls now it isn’t that easy, Fakhar does an outstanding job,” he told ProPakistani as quoted by PakPassion.
Zaman hasn’t been picked in the Pakistan team lately, with many believing he was punished for criticising the decision to drop Babar Azam midway through the three-Test series against England in October 2024.
However, white-ball head coach Aaqib Javed dismissed that theory, pointing out the Mardan native needs to resolve certain fitness issues.
Zaman himself said he has been suffering from hyperthyroidism, but did play in the Champions T20 Cup, where he was the third-highest run-scorer with 303 runs in 10 matches for the Markhors, which included two fifties, at an average of 30.30 and a strike-rate of 132.31.
Pakistan recently took on Australia in a limited overs series and won the ODIs 2-1 before being whitewashed 3-0 in the T20Is.
They then headed to Zimbabwe and triumphed 2-1 in both the ODI and T20I series.
The men in green are now taking on South Africa and lost the T20I series 2-0 before rebounding to claim a 3-0 win in the ODIs.
As for the two-Test series, Pakistan are 1-0 down after losing the 1st Test in Centurion by two wickets.
The 2nd Test started on January 3 in Cape Town.
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
[TS_Poll id=”65″]