Set to make his Pakistan comeback, opener Fakhar Zaman has revealed the reason behind his recent absence from the national set up. Fakhar, who last played for Pakistan during the T20 World Cup last year, seemingly landed himself in trouble after criticising the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for dropping Babar Azam from the Test team last year. In October 2024, Babar was dropped from the last two Tests against England as Pakistan completed a turn around and won the series in his absence.
It was reported that PCB had issued a show-cause notice against Fakhar for his tweet criticising Babar’s omission. He had pointed out how India stood by Virat Kohli when the India batter was struggling across formats. However, he later suggested that he “should not have tweeted” as no one is bigger than the board.
“I thought about it later and felt that I should not have tweeted. But people got the tweet completely wrong. They thought that I was criticising the decision of the board, but this is 100 per cent wrong. If you see the timing of the tweet, it was done before the board made its decision. I saw in the news for 2-3 days that journalists and former players were criticising him (Babar Azam). And I thought to myself, Babar has done so much for the team, but they still wanted him to be dropped,” Fakhar had clarified.
Many felt that Fakhar’s tweet was the recent behind his omission from the team.
However, the southpaw has now opened up on the real reason behind his constant absence from the team. Fakhar revealed that he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, a hormonal problem, and lost over 10kgs due to it, leading to other health issues.
“Anyone can fall sick. I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, which led to a weight loss of 10 kg and weakened my muscles. This was the only reason I was out of the team, there was nothing else. I am fully fit now, but the first four to five matches in domestic cricket were tough and I felt as if I had forgotten how to play,” Fakhar revealed, while speaking to former Pakistan captain Salman Butt on the 57th episode of PCB Podcast.
“I will try my best to make this Champions Trophy even more memorable for myself and the team,” he added.
Fakhar is set to make his comeback in the Champions Trophy preceeding tri-series at home against New Zealand and South Africa.
Fakhar was named ‘Man of the Match’ in the Champions Trophy final in 2017 when Pakistan defeated India at the Oval to lift the title.
Pakistan squad for tri-series and Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Ali Agha, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah.
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