Afridi reveals why Fakhar was initially ignored for NZ ODI series

Shahid Afridi has revealed why Fakhar Zaman was not named among the probables initially announced for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand earlier this year.

On 28 December 2022, the men’s interim National Selection Committee, led by Afridi, had named 22 probables for the three ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League matches against New Zealand, which were played at the National Bank Cricket Arena on 9, 11 and 13 January.

Fakhar was later added to the probables, and made the final squad announced for the series.

“When I became the chief selector, I talked about Fakhar. Fakhar’s name was missing from the list which I got from management. Everyone was involved in that decision,” Afridi revealed.

“I asked where is Fakhar? They said Fakhar has no performances and there is an issue with his fitness, so that is why they were not interested. After two days, I took his fitness test. I found him to be fit, so I considered him,” he added.

It must be noted that Fakhar was the lone century maker from Pakistan in their last ODI series against the Netherlands, which took place before the aforementioned series.

Fakhar Zaman scored 157 runs in the three-match series, which included a century and a fifty. Despite Fakhar’s heroics, Pakistan lost the home series against the Kiwis by 2-1.