Mohammad Yousuf Reveals He Knew Fakhar Zaman Would Struggle Even After Champions Trophy Heroics

Fakhar Zaman’s fall from grace is absolutely spectacular. The Pakistan opener had become one of the most sought after players in the world after his sensational century in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy. Few months later, he became the first Pakistan player to score a double century in ODIs and also became the fastest to score 1,000 runs in the format.

Unsurprisingly, he became the poster boy of Pakistan cricket. However, he has failed to deliver on the expected lines in the last one year or so. The left-handed batsman has struggled to get going in international cricket in recent months especially in T20Is.

Last year, he averaged just 6.25 from 8 games with a strike-rate of 104.16 in the shortest format of the game. Surprisingly, he was only able to hit one six in 2019 and was consequently dropped from Pakistan’s T20I squad for the home series against Bangladesh.

And as Fakhar Zaman tries to find out the reasons behind his sudden struggle in international cricket, former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf is not at all surprised with it. In a recent interview, Mohammad Yousuf made it clear he knew it all along that Fakhar Zaman would struggle in international cricket because of his technique.

The legendary batsman revealed that he had advised him to work on his technique as it would come back to haunt him in the future. Mohammad Yousuf recalled how criticising Fakhar Zaman’s technique after he scored a sensational century in the Champions Trophy final against India “was like committing suicide”.

“Criticising Fakhar Zaman’s technique when he scored a hundred against India in 2017 Champions Trophy final was like committing suicide. But even then, after Pakistan won the Champions Trophy, I said it on live television that if he doesn’t improve his technique then he will get stuck in future. Now look at him, he is stuck and is yet to show any improvement,” Mohammad Yousuf said in a YouTube video as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

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