Fakhar Zaman’s injury woes have further compounded Pakistan’s anguish, coming swiftly after the defeat by 60 runs to New Zealand in their first outing of the ICC Champions Trophy. The very second ball into the match saw him get injured while fielding. He did return, though, later in the innings, but the fact that he had played without appearing to be completely fit raised eyebrows of concern among fans.
Fakhar has slumped to score just 24 runs off 41 deliveries during the chase for 321, batting at number four, in a laborious innings. He couldn’t bat for some stipulated time according to rules laid down by the ICC as he was off the field due to an internal injury. After that, the Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan was asked for an update on the left-hander’s injury, and he did not seem very confident.
“Not sure yet, he hasn’t got his result yet. He is in some pain,” Rizwan said while admitting that Fakhar not opening disturbed their plans in the powerplay overs. “We lost momentum twice, first in the death overs and then in the powerplay with the bat. Losing Fakhar Zaman [as opener] was crucial,” Rizwan added.
In fact, Fakhar hurt Pakistan while running a chase because all it was able to get in the first ten overs was 22 runs, losing Saud Shakeel and skipper Rizwan in the process. Pakistan batters hit only two fours, both by Babar Azam, in the powerplay and played out a massive 47 dot balls.