Pakistan cricketer Fakhar Zaman is reportedly distraught and is considering retirement after he was snubbed from the central contracts list. The batter was left out of the white-ball squads for the series against Australia and Zimbabwe. Zaman was expected to be excluded following his tweet criticising the decision to drop Babar Azam after the PAK vs ENG 1st Test.
Fakhar Zaman considering retirement?
As per Cricket Pakistan, sources close to Fakhar Zaman said that his morale had been affected by the handling of his issue by the board and selection committee. On Sunday, PCB chief Mohsin Nzqvi confirmed that while his pro-Babar Azam “tweet was an issue”, Zaman was excluded from the squad because of his issues with fitness. Naqvi claimed that Fakhar Zaman faced the axe mainly due to fitness and due to his show cause notice remaining unresolved.
“Look, Fakhar Zaman tweet matters, but fitness is major issue. There are two major issues in his fitness. There is also a pending show cause notice against him which is yet to be decided on. That is why he has been excluded,” Mohsin Naqvi clarified.
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Further, Fakhar Zaman has reportedly claimed that the standards in fitness evaluations were inconsistent. As per the report, Zaman failed to complete the 2 km run in the required 8 minutes and hence lost his contract to Usman Khan. He was set to undergo a fitness evaluation once again in January 2025 but it remains to be seen what holds for the star in the future.
The Fakhar Zaman-PCB saga
It all began when Fakhar Zaman publicly questioned the decision to drop Babar Azam midway in the PAK vs ENG series. He drew a parallel with India’s Virat Kohli to point out why the board should back a star player during his lean run. He had claimed that such a move could send a negative message to the team and set a bad precedent. Naturally, this did not go well with the PCB. Naqvi went on to claim that no player or professional should publicly criticize the board or its decisions.
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