Virat Kohli-Babar Azam comparison leads to Fakhar Zaman's retirement from Pakistan

In a big development in Pakistan cricket, opener Fakhar Zaman is considering retirement from international cricket after being left out of the team for the ODI and T20I series against Australia.

Fakhar came out against PCB openly criticizing their move to drop Babar Azam from the Test squad vs England. In addition, he also compared Babar to India legend Virat Kohli suggesting that the BCCI was behind Virat Kohli in his slump.

Recently, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the squads for the ODIs and T20Is in Australia. While Mohammad Rizwan has been appointed the new white-ball captain of the team, Salman Ali Agha has been named the vice-captain.

However, the biggest surprise was the omission of Zaman from both teams. Fakhar was dropped from both the ODI and the T20I teams regarding his fitness concerns and his controversial tweet backing Babar Azam.

Also read: Australia T20 squad for Pakistan announced; captain to be revealed soon

Fakhar Zaman considers retirement from international cricket

According to the reports, the decision of the selectors to drop Fakhar Zaman from both the white-ball teams has not gone down well with the cricketer. Zaman has also been asked by the PCB to undergo a fitness test in January next year.

The reports also claim that Fakhar is also considering retirement from all formats of the game after his omission. Fakhar is one of the most aggressive batters in the team and his retirement can be a big blow for Pakistan.

Selectors actions have broken Fakhar Zaman’s heart, and close sources indicate he is even considering retirement. He has been asked to undergo another fitness test in January

— Saleem Khaliq (@saleemkhaliq) October 28, 2024

Mohsin Naqvi reasons Fakhar Zaman's omission and it's not Virat Kohli-Babar Azam tweet

The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi later reasoned Fakhar's omission as the lack of fitness. Naqvi also revealed that Fakhar's earlier tweet in support of Babar Azam was also one of the reasons behind his omission.

“Tweet was one issue, but the bigger matter was fitness. There is a show-cause notice pending against him, and we will see about that. He would need to prove his fitness; his point of view was valued in the Connection Camp, and I am very thankful to him for that," Mohsin Naqvi said at the press conference.

"But you cannot go around commenting on the selection committee over selection calls. But ya, the bigger issue is of selection,” he added.

While he is not a part of Pakistan's ODI and T20I teams against Australia, Fakhar has also been totally dropped from the contracted players list for the 2024-25 season. While a no. of young players received maiden contracts, Zaman was unable to make the list.

Fakhar Zaman's numbers in white-ball cricket

Fakhar Zaman became a star just after making his international debut in 2017. The left-handed opener scored a match-winning hundred in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India and led Pakistan to a historic title win over the arch-rivals.

The 34-year-old has played 3 Tests, 82 ODIs, and 92 T20Is against Pakistan so far. While he has been unable to make a mark in red-ball cricket, he has been a key part of Pakistan's white-ball teams.

Fakhar Zaman has scored 3492 runs at an average of 46.56 and a strike rate of 93.44 with 11 hundreds and 16 fifties in ODIs. He has scored 1848 runs at an average of 22.81 and a strike rate of 132.94 in T20Is.