“Give him some time out,” Ramiz Raja wants Pakistan to rest Fakhar Zaman against India in Asia Cup
Ramiz says it's time Pakistan look for an in-form opener.
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Ramiz Raja (L) and Fakhar Zaman (R) (Images via X)
Ramiz Raja, on his Youtube channel, said that Pakistani opener, Fakhar Zaman, should be given a rest in their game against India. Fakhar is in a lean period right now. Fakhar started 2023 strong, scoring 3 centuries and 1 half century against New Zealand.
But since those centuries, he has managed to score only 139 runs in 7 innings, averaging a bit below 19.85. He failed to score runs against Afghanistan, Nepal and in 3 games against New Zealand.
Ramiz Raja thinks it’s time Pakistan move to an in-form opener and give Fakhar a break. Raja said, “Pakistan needs to assess Fakhar. I believe they should rest him, give him some time out. Sidelining him is better for him as well as the Pakistan side. He’s a good player, Pakistan has given him chances. But against India, with the form that he has, that chance is not worth being taken.”
Pakistan and India play first ODI in over 4 years
India and Pakistan last played an ODI in the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup. India had batted first and scored 336 runs thanks to a century by Rohit Sharma and fifties by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Pakistan managed to put up only 212 in 40 overs, losing 6 wickets along the way. As rain started to disturb the match, India was given the win by DLS method.
Since then, India and Pakistan have only played T20is against each other. The first match they played against each other was in the 2021 T20 World Cup, where Pakistan had chased down 152 with ease without losing any wickets, In 2022, they played against each other 3 times, with 2 coming in the Asia Cup and one in the 2022 ICC T20I World Cup.
India won 2 of those fixtures, with one win coming in the 2022 Asia Cup group stages and the other one in the World Cup. A chasing masterclass by Virat Kohli saw India winning the match. They will now potentially face each other 4 times in 2023. If India and Pakistan make it to the finals, they would play each other three times in the Asia Cup, and then they would play each other in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup
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Dhruv Kulkarni
(1120 Articles Published)