Fakhar Zaman Faces Trouble for Supporting Babar Azam, PCB Issues Show Cause Notice

Fakhar Zaman seems to be in trouble for sympathizing with star batsman Babar Azam. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has served a show cause notice to Fakhar on Monday. The PCB has shown the way out of the Pakistan Test team to star players like Babar, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah. All three were not selected for the second and third Tests against England. Fakhar had expressed displeasure over dropping Babar. He gave the example of India’s legendary batsman Virat Kohli, who was never dropped despite poor form.

Senior cricketer Fakhar wrote on the social media platform ‘X’ on Sunday, “It is worrying to hear about excluding Babar Azam. India did not bench Virat Kohli during the bad phase between 2020 and 2023, while his average was 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50 respectively. If we consider dropping our main batsman, it can send a negative message to the team. We should focus on the safety of our main players instead of underestimating them.” Fakhar shared this post five minutes before the team’s announcement.

According to a Cricbuzz report, the PCB has issued a show cause notice to Fakhar for commenting on the selection committee’s decision. He now has seven days to clarify his position to the PCB. This move is likely further to widen the rift between Fakhar and the board. He had expressed his disappointment over how the PCB director treated him last month. Fakhar had reportedly said in the complaint that PCB’s Director of International Cricket Operations Usman Wahala had delayed giving NOCs to the players for the T20 league.

Pakistan squad for 2nd-3rd Tests against England:

Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Hasibullah (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Agha Salman and Zahid Mahmood, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira.