Imam, Fakhar likely to make Pak comeback

The duo was dropped from both Australia tour and new central contracts

After a packed schedule featuring ODI and T20I series against Australia and Zimbabwe in the month of November, the Pakistan cricket team is gearing up for an exciting tour of South Africa, which includes both white-ball and red-ball formats later this December.

The Men in Green are set to play a three-match ODI series, a three-match T20I series, and a two-match Test series, which is part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle.

According to media reports, Pakistan is expected to make two notable inclusions in their white-ball squad for the upcoming series: the left-arm batting duo of Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman. Both players are set to make a comeback after being absent from the national team recently.

Fakhar Zaman's exclusion stemmed from a controversial tweet in which he expressed support for Babar Azam, who was omitted from Pakistan's squad for the second and third Tests against England. Despite the team achieving a commendable 2-1 series victory, Zaman faced repercussions for his comments, receiving a showcause notice that further led to his omission from the squad for the ongoing white-ball series against Australia and his exclusion from the newly announced central contract.

Imam-ul-Haq, on the other hand, has a strong track record, having played 72 ODI matches with an impressive average of 48.27. His last appearance in the fifty-over format was against South Africa during the 2023 World Cup.

The T20I matches are scheduled to take place in Durban, Centurion, and Johannesburg from December 10th to 14th, followed by the ODI series in Paarl, Cape Town, and Johannesburg from December 17th to 22nd. The two Tests, part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25, will be held from December 26th to 30th in Centurion and January 3rd to 7th in Cape Town.