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Revealed: Why Pakistan dropped Fakhar Zaman from T20I squad for South Africa series

Anurag Dasgupta

Why Fakhar was not picked [Source: AFP Photo] Why Fakhar was not picked [Source: AFP Photo]

Following a crushing defeat in the second Test against South Africa, Pakistan will now have to shift its focus to the T20Is against the same opponent, with the first T20I scheduled for Tuesday. The selectors revealed the T20I squad a couple of days ago, and surprisingly, Fakhar Zaman was not included in the main team. He was kept in the reserves as Babar Azam made his comeback.

Why Fakhar was not picked; reason revealed finally

This came in as a bit of a shocker since Fakhar had done well for Pakistan in the Asia Cup, and was their second-highest run-getter after Sahibzada Farhan. He did well against India in the Asia Cup finals, but despite churning out decent numbers, he was not picked by the management.

Now, ahead of the first T20I, Pakistan head coach revealed the reason why Fakhar was not included in the main team and was kept in the reserves.

"We've had a conversation with Fakhar Zaman. He wants to make a comeback in ODI ,so we’ve given him a break from T20Is to work on his technique."

Fakhar aiming to seal 2027 WC spot

Since the 2023 World Cup, where Fakhar was Pakistan’s best batter, the southpaw has been struggling with injuries and disciplinary issues with the PCB. He has been in and out of the squad due to injury-related issues, and the player was also punished by the PCB for speaking against them as the batter lend his support to Babar.

He last played an ODI match during the opening contest of the Champions Trophy, and was eventually ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. At 35, the batter is in the twilight of his career as he aims to cement his place in the 50-overs side, and hence he has urged for a break to work on his gameplay.