Usman Shinwari comes out in support of Fakhar Zaman

Left-arm Pakistan pacer Usman Khan Shinwari threw his weight behind opening batter Fakhar Zaman after his exclusion from Pakistan squads and central contracts.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the central contracts for the 2024-25 international season, along with the squads for the tours to Australia and Zimbabwe.

However, Fakhar’s name was missing from the central contract list and squads for the upcoming tours.

The decision to exclude Fakhar Zaman did not sit well with Usman Khan Shinwari, who expressed his backing for the left-handed batter.

“I will prefer one day of Fakhar Zaman’s life Rather than 60 years of those who were choosing their sides according to situations,” wrote Shinwari on X, formerly Twitter.

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Meanwhile, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, during a press conference where he announced handing white ball captaincy to Rizwan, addressed Fakhar’s exclusion from the central contracts list.

“There is the tweet issue definitely. But that doesn’t matter as much as his fitness tests. He had two issues: the fitness test and the show-cause notice, which is still pending. That is why he hasn’t been included (in the central contracts list),” Naqvi said.

It is worth mentioning here that the left-handed batter has questioned the PCB’s decision to exclude Babar Azam from the squad for the last two Tests of the recently concluded England series.

In a post on X, Zaman had said that dropping Babar Azam would send a negative message to the team, as he emphasised the need to safeguard key players rather than undermine them.

The PCB chief in his press conference reiterated the importance of discipline within the team while acknowledging Fakhar Zaman’s input during the previous connection camp.

“Fakhar spoke well in the connection camp, and because of that, we’ve fixed a lot of things and are doing more in the international department. I appreciate him for that, but this can’t happen if a player gets dropped by the selection committee then another player starts doing tweets against it. This isn’t allowed and won’t be allowed. But the bigger issue is his fitness test,” Naqvi said.

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