A Champions Trophy 2025 campaign not adequately begun, but rather the contrary, had taken a negative turn with Pakistan’s opening loss to New Zealand, further aggravated with the news of Fakhar Zaman’s injury and subsequent exclusion.
The veteran sustained a muscle strain during New Zealand’s innings and was out of the field for a fairly long period in that innings.
In the first over of the match, the 34-year-old was injured when he was chasing a ball to the boundary.
He was unable to open the batting in the second innings, which then meant that Saud Shakeel had to come in as a stop-gap opener. Zaman was batting at No.4, scored 24 off 41, but looked to be really struggling throughout his innings.
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A heartbreaking video of Fakhar Zaman’s reaction after being dismissed in Pakistan’s chase against New Zealand, which the hosts lost by 60 runs, went viral across the internet.
After last featuring in the 2023 World Cup in India, Fakhar, who has a checkered past with knee injuries, made a return to the Pakistan team for the Champions Trophy.
“Unfortunately I am now out of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 but surely Allah is the best planner. Grateful for the opportunity. I will be backing our boys in green from home,” Zaman had posted on X.
The Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB), with the permission of the International Cricket Council’s Event Technical Committee, included Imam-ul-Haq on the Dubai-bound squad to confront India.
Pakistan was in an all-or-nothing situation after having lost the opening match in Karachi.
The team had a three-hour practice at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, where all batters made the most of 20 minutes of extended batting except skipper Mohammad Rizwan.
Batting mainstay Babar Azam batted against every bowler, taking at least two overs from each. The former captain had been progressing slowly in scoring 64 runs in 90 balls from New Zealand.
Pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf would be expected to play an important role against the arch-rivals; they have also bowled for seven overs each.
A long meeting took place among Pakistan’s interim coach Aaqib Javed and captain Rizwan and their players, with the coach doing most of the talking.
