Good News Pakistan! Fakhar Zaman Set To Play Champions Trophy; Says 'I'm 100% Sure'
Fakhar Zaman (Source: @ArslanJutt43/X.Com)
Pakistan's left-handed star, Fakhar Zaman exuded confidence while talking about his possible return to the national team after over a year. Zaman, who was excluded from Pakistan's central contract, appeared on a podcast and talked about returning to the national side for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Fakhar Zaman, who has not played international cricket since Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup before entering the group-stage, revealed the real reason behind his absence and central contract snubbing. He said that he was not doing well post World Cup and it was due to medical condition that he could not be available for his team.
“People don’t know that after the T20 World Cup I got sick. I was not part of the team because of my medical condition, but now (I’m) 100% (sure) I will play for Pakistan,” Fakhar said during his appearance on Vipers Voices podcast.
What happened between Fakhar Zaman And PCB?
Earlier a lot of speculations hinted a possible discord between Fakhar and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after the star opener criticized the PCB just before Babar Azam was controversially rested for the final two home test matches against England. Following which, the PCB also issued the 34-year-old batter a show cause notice for his social media post in favor of Babar.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi also expressed concerns over Fakhar’s fitness during a presser later on.
“It cannot happen like that if selection committee is not playing one player, then other players start tweeting to express their displeasure,” Naqvi told reporters at the time. “Players are not allowed to function like this, and we will never allow that. The main issue with (Fakhar) is his fitness test, that he was not able to clear.”
Fakhar Zaman's Shines in Champions Cup
Fakhar was Pakistan's main man during the 2017 Champions Trophy, where he slammed a century against India to claim victory in the final. Hence, his return to the side will further bolster the Pakistan line-up. After working on his health and fitness, Fakhar returned to competitive cricket with a bang during the domestic Champions Cup T20 tournament and was the third highest-scorer with 303 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 132.31.
Pakistan's Probable XI For Champions Trophy 2025
Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohd. Rizwan (c) (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
 "Muskaan Bhatt")
