The decision by the Pakistan Cricket Board to remove Fakhar Zaman from the contract list infuriated Pakistani seamer Muhammad Amir. He attacked the PCB on Twitter after the list was made public on Sunday, October 27, claiming that Fakhar was the lone impact player in the nation's white-ball match. On Sunday, the PCB unveiled their updated contract list, which included numerous revisions to the previous one. After tweeting his disapproval of the selection panel's decision to remove Babar Azam from the Test squad, Fakhar Zaman was removed from the list.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi gave an explanation for why Fakhar Zaman was fired from his central contract. Naqvi stated during a news conference on Sunday that no member of the national team should tweet his thoughts on decisions made by the selection committee. In addition to the tweet controversy, Mohsin Naqvi stated that Fakhar's lack of fitness was the primary cause of the player's contract termination.
"Tweet was one issue, but the bigger matter was one that of fitness. There is a show cause notice pending against him, and we will see about that. He would need to prove his fitness, his point of view was valued in the Connection Camp and I am very thankful to him for that but you cannot go around commenting on the selection committee over selection calls. But ya, the bigger issue is of selection," Mohsin Naqvi said in the press conference.
Amir reacts to Fakhar's snub
In response to the news, Amir expressed disapproval of the board's decision. One of Pakistan's top hitters at the 2023 ODI World Cup was Fakhar. The left-hander had scored 220 runs at an average of 73, far more than the other batters in the team, despite just playing four games.
"I am surprised that Fakhar Zaman is not in the team. He is the only impact player we have in white ball cricket," Amir wrote on Twitter.
Following the end of the England Test series, the PCB made their new contact list public. After publicly denouncing their national cricket board for resting Babar Azam halfway through the England Test series, Fakhar Zaman was taken off their core contracts list. Notably, on Sunday, October 27, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made public the list of players who have contracts for the 2024–25 season. A few veterans' names were missing from the list, even though a number of young players received their first contracts.
Fakhar Zaman, a member of Category B in the central contracts for the previous season, was one of them. Only a few weeks after publicly criticizing the choice to rest Babar Azam on his X handle, he was removed. The PCB officials were not happy with the position, so the board sent him a "show cause" notice. Fakhar has now lost his central contract for the first time in eight years as a result of the incident. The daring batsman last played for his nation at the 2024 T20 World Cup, where Pakistan lost badly to co-hosts India and the United States and was eliminated in the first round.
