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Mohammed Hafeez took a sly dig on the Pakistan crew administration for sending Fakhar Zaman at quantity 4 regardless of the participant being injured and in ache.
Fakhar Zaman won’t be part of the rest of Pakistan’s Champions Trophy marketing campaign. (Picture: AP)
Mohammed Hafeez slammed the Pakistan crew administration for risking Fakhar Zaman within the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener in opposition to New Zealand regardless of not having absolutely recovered. The transfer has now resulted within the star opening batter being dominated out of the event.
The 34-year-old sustained a knee harm within the first over of the match which noticed him being out of motion for a substantial time period within the first innings. This additionally meant that Pakistan needed to rejig their batting order with Fakhar coming in at 4.
Hafeez criticised the transfer to ship him out at 4 contemplating that the participant was nonetheless in ache and struggled to run between the wickets.
“You give the Champions Trophy to the man who despatched Fakhar to bat at No. 4. He couldn’t run correctly. It was a protracted match, and he was in ache. You may’t count on him to simply stand there and hit each ball out of the park. He was scuffling with operating between the wickets, which added extra stress on Babar Azam,” Hafeez mentioned on PTV Sports activities.
As well as, the previous cricketer additionally slammed Babar Azam’s strategy and lack of intent with the bat. His slow-paced innings meant that the scoring-rate saved rising, giving New Zealand the victory ultimately.
“Babar is a high participant. He has practically 18,000 to twenty,000 worldwide runs, however what was his intent at the moment?” Hafeez questioned. “He scored a fifty and appeared glad, however Pakistan misplaced the sport. If his knock had taken the sport ahead, then it might have been worthwhile. As an alternative, his half-century value Pakistan the match. Why didn’t we begin batting with that intent within the powerplay?” he added.
With Fakhar Zaman now being formally dominated out, Pakistan have now misplaced two star batters. Earlier Saim Ayub had been dominated out attributable to harm and his substitute, Fakhar has now been dominated. Pakistan will face India of their subsequent group-stage match and will probably be a must-win sport for the defending champions.
Pakistan should play out of their skins in opposition to a well-oiled machine in India and it stays to be seen if Rizwan and Co can muster up a struggle.