Pakistan opening batter Fakhar Zaman suffered an injury scare during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener clash against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi. The left-handed fell awkwardly during the second ball of the first over of New Zealand’s innings and had to leave the ground for medical assessment.
The star batter came to field after some time to continue but he soon walked off again, raising concerns about his fitness.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) later released a statement, saying, “Fakhar Zaman is being assessed and examined for a muscular sprain and further updates will be provided in due course.”
Pakistan will be anxiously waiting for further medical reports, the batter will play an important role in the team's batting lineup. Pakistan are already featuring without their destructive batter Saim Ayub who got injured before the tournament.
After finishing the opener clash, the Mohammad Rizwan-led side will travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the much-awaited clash against arch-rivals India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on February 23. Pakistan will face Bangladesh for their third league match on February 27.
Coming back to the opener clash, After being asked to bat New Zealand failed to get a good start as as Abrar Ahmed picked Devon Conway's wicket inside the powerplay. After that veteran batter Kane Williamson got out in the ninth over scoring just one run. While writing this copy, New Zealand were NZ 77/3 in 17 overs.
Playing XIs
New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Will Young, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, William ORourke
Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.