Never in World Cup history has Pakistan gone into a World Cup with a settled playing XI. Either it’s the captaincy-changing debate before the 2011/2015 World Cup or it’s the playing XI you want to go with in the ultimate competition. With the World Cup less than a month away, Pakistan’s management is scratching its head with several issues the team is currently facing. The different form of the left-handed opener Fakhar Zaman is raising doubts regarding his role at the top. The cricket pundits and analysts have launched scathing attacks against the opener’s form at the top & Fakhar Zaman’s World Cup place is now under the cloud.
Let’s have an in-depth analysis of Fakhar’s struggles.
Fakhar Zaman’s World Cup place: A review
Slump in form
Following a spectacular start to 2023, where he scored a hat-trick of centuries in the home series against New Zealand, Fakhar Zaman has had a downward slide in ODIs lately. Since his twin centuries in the series against New Zealand in May Fakhar is going through a lean patch. He hasn’t been able to cross fifty in his last ten innings which is very worrisome for the management. He’s also struggling in the current ongoing Asia Cup 2023 which was quite evident in the last game against India where he just stood cluelessly against the swinging deliveries
| Matches | Runs | HS | Average | SR | 100’s | 50’s |
| 11 | 190 | 33 | 19.00 | 65.12 | – | – |
Stats in Asia Cup 2023:
| Matches | Runs | HS | Average | SR | 100’s | 50’s |
| 05 | 65 | 27 | 16.25 | 58.03 | – | – |
It’s almost similar to pre 2019 World Cup where he went through a very indifferent
Similar to pre 2019 World Cup
Pakistan went into the World Cup 2019 in England with many players struggling for form. Fakhar Zaman came into the World Cup with several mixed performances & that got worse during the competition as he had a poor tournament with just a single fifty in nine matches.
His stats in 10 matches leading up to the ICC World Cup 2019 were:
| Matches | Runs | HS | Average | SR | 100’s | 50’s |
| 10 | 367 | 138 | 36.7 | 100.51 | 01 | 02 |
Although Fakhar Zaman’s World Cup place came under scrutiny, everybody put their onus on him to perform on the fast English pitches where he shone during Pakistan’s triumphant Champions Trophy 2017 run. He simply failed to show up when Pakistan needed stability at the top order. His stats in World Cup 2019 were:
ICC WORLD CUP 2019
| Matches | Runs | HS | Average | SR | 100’s | 50’s |
| 08 | 186 | 62 | 23.25 | 81.93 | 0 | 1 |
Also read: From Star to Struggler: Shadab Khan’s Bowling Conundrum
Options to replace?
To be honest I never thought the management would be replacing Fakhar at the top with the World Cup this close. But after Abdullah Shafique’s impact at the top in the last game against Sri Lanka & Fakhar’s vulnerable form, it is safe to say that Fakhar might miss out on the opening slot. Although Fakhar numbers as an opener are outstanding, he needs to realize his role at the top & besides it’s the big tournaments that players are remembered for.
After all his role in his inaugural ICC tournament (CT 2017) was exceptional where he gave a bright starts to Pakistan but since then he has been struggling in the big tournaments (Asia Cup 2018 & 2023) for Pakistan.
Players like Mohammad Haris, Abdullah Shafique, Tayyab Tahir & Saud Shakeel are already waiting in the ranks to get an opportunity to pounce.
Indian pitches
As we all know the pitches in Indian conditions would be slow & spinning tracks. The ball will not come nicely onto the bat after the ball gets older. So this is where Fakhar’s role will be very important to give Pakistan a healthy start in the power play. Not like what we witnessed in the game against India where chasing 357 he scored a miserable 25 from 57 balls. There was no intent in his shots and was clearly struggling against the moving ball. And the kind of dependency Pakistan has on their top 3, they must give a platform for the batters to come.
Fakhar’s average drops to a mere 36.08 with a strike rate of 84.68 in Asia compared to his career average of 45.44 at 91.96.
Conclusion
Fakhar has been one of the best-performing openers for Pakistan. But his current run of form is very risky where he is clearly struggling with no intent. He looks like a shadow of himself. He was also very heavily criticized in the recently concluded Asia Cup. I think team management should drop Fakhar from the playing XI & give Abdullah a chance to prove his mantle in the big tournament. Pakistan just can’t afford to lose early wickets at the top.
England also took a similar decision in the case of Jason Roy who has been performing exceptionally well since 2018 at the top but his current slump in form made the ECB replace him with more in-form Harry Brook.
So it’s safe to say Fakhar Zaman’s World Cup place is in serious danger. Now it’s up to the selectors whether they take him to the World Cup as a bench strength or not. But I hope he makes it to the bench as a cover up for the openers.
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