KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi addressed the exclusion of opening batter Fakhar Zaman from the national squads for upcoming tours during an informal media chat in Karachi.
Naqvi clarified that he has no role in the selection process, stating, “I don’t interfere in any player’s selection. The selection committee will decide whether Fakhar Zaman will be in the team or not. I never told [the selection committee] to select or drop a certain player.”
His remarks followed the news that Fakhar Zaman was omitted from the PCB’s central contracts list for the 2024-25 international season and was not included in the squads for the upcoming tours to Australia and Zimbabwe.
During a press conference in Lahore, where he announced the appointment of wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan as the white-ball captain, Naqvi cited fitness concerns as the reason for Zaman’s exclusion.
“There is definitely the tweet issue, but that is less significant than his fitness tests. He had two issues: the fitness test and a pending show-cause notice, which is why he hasn’t been included in the central contracts list,” Naqvi explained.
It’s noteworthy that Fakhar Zaman recently criticized the decision to drop Babar Azam from the Pakistan squad for the last two matches against England in the recently concluded Test series. In a post on X, Zaman urged the team management to focus on protecting key players rather than sidelining them.
“If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team. There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them,” he wrote.
