Fakhar Zaman sprung into spotlight at The Oval in the Champions Trophy final following his stellar century that eventually was instrumental in Pakistan lifting the title. After his 114 back in June, the next One-Day International he played was against Sri Lanka in the ongoing five-match series in the UAE. He started off well, aggressively in fact, deflating the Sri Lankan bowlers early on, but couldn’t convert his start in the opening one-dayer, falling for 43. What seemed like a good start for the left-hander, now is a cause of concern for the management given his following scores of 11, 29 and 17.“I would be lying if I say it is not a little worrying,” said Pakistan’s head coach Mickey Arthur on Sunday (October 22), on the eve of the fifth and final one-dayer in Sharjah. “Fakhar is a really good player. What we need is for him to learn and we will continue talking to him. He played in England on really good wickets. The other wickets have been a lot slower and haven’t allowed him to play strokes as much as he could have done. The key for Fakhar now is learning to take strike a little bit more. So he’s got to be able to get singles and get to the other end. That is going to be the key in his development as a batsman but he is still our X-factor player and hopefully he does well tomorrow,” he added.
While Zaman has had difficulty in adjusting to the conditions and slower pitches in the UAE, his fellow batsman Babar Azam has thrived, topping the run-charts this series with 303 runs in four innings with two centuries and one fifty at No.3. The run-spree has seen Babar rise to a career-best spot in the ICC rankings, validating his growth as a batsman. He, however, was not the only one to have risen in stature; Hasan Ali, who has been instrumental for Pakistan in the middle overs, rose to the top after his 12 wickets so far, and the duo, understandably drew applause from their coach.
“When we are winning, we are winning well, and now we have a young guy who a year ago wasn’t in our team is suddenly the No.1 bowler in the world and also Babar Azam has moved to No.4 in the world. That is a great compliment to those players and that also shows we started to gel as a really good as a one-day unit. Those guys have been outstanding,” said Arthur.
After Mohammad Hafeez rose to the top of ODI all-rounders, he was reported a third time for suspect action during the third one-dayer in Abu Dhabi. Hafeez had already been reported twice earlier for an illegal bowling action and was suspended from bowling both times.
“That is disappointing because he is such an integral part of this one-day side going forward in terms of what he brings with the ball particularly in these conditions,” said Arthur. “We spent the last couple of days going back on a few videos and the stuff when he came back and we are confident that he is fine. I am pretty sure he is going get through that problem,” Arthur added of his ace all-rounder.
That wasn’t the only setback that Pakistan have faced. They have had a slew of injuries that they have had to deal with. It all began with Mohammad Amir who was ruled out of the entire one-day series with a shin injury. Faheem Ashraf played the third one-dayer and did his calf muscle. Haris Sohail, who was impressive in the Test series with five wickets and vital contributions with the bat, didn’t pass a fitness test and the latest was Babar Azam picking up a groin injury.
“It’s been a pity that we have picked up a couple of injuries,” rued Arthur. “I thought Faheem bowled great lengths. I would have loved to see him, but he did a calf muscle. Rumman Raees is out of the Twenty20; Haris didn’t pass a fitness test, but is pretty close to playing. Babar has pulled a groin. We need to take all that consideration.”
Despite the injuries’ setback, Pakistan are well-set to complete a comfortable whitewash of Sri Lanka – going by the previous four games and the visitors’ dismal capitulation and struggles with the bat. Arthur called for his side to not be complacent and complete the job at hand in immaculate fashion. “I will be disappointed if we didn’t (win 5-0) because the guys are hungry and the guys want to definitely do that. The key for us is to maintain our hunger and ruthlessness.”
