Mohammad Hafeez, the former captain of Pakistan, has harshly criticized the team management for taking a chance on Fakhar Zaman in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy against New Zealand, which now cost the star opener the entire competition. While pursuing the ball in the outfield during the first over of Pakistan's opening match against New Zealand, Fakhar suffered an oblique injury that forced him to leave the field. Despite his return during Pakistan's chase, he was unable to start the batting for Pakistan due to ICC regulations. Hafeez feels that the choice to send him in at No. 4 was a significant blunder.
Hafeez on Fakhar Zaman
"You give the Champions Trophy to the guy who sent Fakhar to bat at No. 4. He couldn't run properly. It was a long match, and he was in pain. You can't expect him to just stand there and hit every ball out of the park. He was struggling with running between the wickets, which added more pressure on Babar Azam," Hafeez said on PTV Sports.
In addition to Fakhar's injury, Hafeez expressed disapproval of Babar's intent during Pakistan's 60-run loss. Despite failing to accelerate when needed, the Pakistan star managed to score 64 from 90 balls.
"Babar is a top player. He has nearly 18,000 to 20,000 international runs, but what was his intent today? He scored a fifty and seemed satisfied, but Pakistan lost the game. If his knock had taken the game forward, then it would have been valuable. Instead, his half-century cost Pakistan the match. Why didn't we start batting with that intent in the powerplay?" he added.
PCB announces Fakhar Zaman's replacement
Meanwhile, PCB has announced Imam-ul-Haq as Fakhar's replacement. With nine fifties and 20 half-centuries to his credit, Imam has amassed 3138 runs at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 82.55 in 72 One-Day Internationals. Imam last participated in an ODI in the World Cup in India in October 2023 against South Africa.
Pakistan's updated squad for Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.