ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Revealed - Why Fakhar Zaman didn’t open against New Zealand?

The 34-year-old Pakistan National Cricket Team left-handed opening batsman Fakhar Zaman did not open the innings for his team in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

The Champions Trophy 2025 opener is seeing the high-octane battle between the Pakistan National Cricket Team and the New Zealand National Cricket Team on Wednesday, February 19, at the National Stadium in Karachi.

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Fakhar Zaman got injured in the first over

The Men In Green won the toss and opted to bowl first in the match. Pakistan's Champions Trophy title defense got off to a horrible start as in the first over itself, Fakhar Zaman seemed to have injured himself while fielding.

On the second ball of the first over, Kiwi opener Will Young drove Shaheen Afridi's delivery through the covers to beat the infield. Fakhar Zaman went in running to stop the ball, and in the process, he hurt himself.

Fakhar looked in discomfort and he was immediately replaced by a substitute fielder on the field. A physio checked on Fakhar for a while and the batter was seen going back to the dressing room, leaving the fans and the hosts worried.

Later, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released an official statement, saying that the veteran batter was being assessed for a muscular sprain.

"Fakhar Zaman is being assessed and examined for a muscular sprain and further updates will be provided in due course," the PCB said in a statement.

Why Fakhar Zaman did not open the innings vs New Zealand?

Fakhar Zaman came back onto the field after being out for just over two hours. He looked fine and didn't look in any kind of discomfort while fielding.

Many would have thought that he would open the innings as well, but that didn't happen because rules don't allow that. Actually, he was out of the field for a very long time, which prevented him from opening for Pakistan.

As per the rules, he needed to wait for a certain amount of time before he could bat. Fakhar Zaman was not allowed to take the field for the first 20 minutes of Pakistan's innings. Hence, Saud Shakeel opened the batting alongside Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan came to bat at No.3 after Shakeel's early wicket.

Who Have Been The Top Performers In Pakistan vs New Zealand ICC Champions Trophy Matches?

Pakistan and New Zealand have locked horns with each other thrice in the ICC Champions Trophy history, with the Kiwis dominating in all the matches.

The matches between the teams have seen players from both sides deliver some memorable performances, both with the bat and ball.

On the batting side of things, Pakistan great Mohammad Yousuf leads the run-scoring charts in this rivalry, scoring 140 runs in three innings at an impressive average of 48.33 and the highest score of 71. Saeed Anwar has been the only batter to score a century in this rivalry, smashing 104 runs off 115 balls in the 2006 edition.

For New Zealand, Scott Styris has been the top performer with the bat and overall second-highest run-getter behind Yousuf. He has amassed 114 runs in two innings at an average of 57 and a best of 86.

Stephen Fleming (92 runs) and Roger Twose (87 runs) also played significant knocks against Pakistan while in the clash that happened in 2009, Grant Elliott played a match-winning 75-run knock to help his side win.

Talking about bowlers, Shayne O’Connor is the highest wicket-taker as he bagged a five-wicket haul in the 2006 edition, which remains the best individual bowling performance in PAK vs NZ Champions Trophy matches.

The next bowlers on the list are New Zealand’s Ian Butler, Daniel Vettori, and Shane Bond with four wickets each to their name.

For Pakistan, Azhar Mahmood is the top wicket-taker with his spell of 4/26, which came in 2000 and remains one of the finest bowling performances, while Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, and Abdul Razzaq contributed with key wickets across multiple editions.