KARACHI: Opener Fakhar Zaman is “upset” after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) omitted him from the list of centrally contracted players, but is not thinking of retiring from international cricket, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported on Monday.

Apart from getting dropped from the contract list on Sunday, Fakhar, the only Pakistan batter with a double hundred in ODIs, was also not included in the squad for the upcoming white-ball series in Australia.

“Look, he is obviously upset and disappointed because the selectors and board have apparently applied different sets of rules while taking fitness tests and clearing players,” a source close to Fakhar told PTI.

The source said Fakhar, who has been carrying a knee niggle which first surfaced in 2022, was unhappy because while he did fail to clear the two-kilometre sprint test in given time, some other players had also not met the required time but still were yet picked in the team.

“He feels clarity is required from the selectors on why some players are being favoured,” the source added.

On Sunday, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said Fakhar’s tweet over Babar Azam’s selection was a breach of the board’s code of conduct for players but it was not the only reason to elbow him out.

Mohsin also cited the poor fitness standards of Fakhar as a reason to look past him for the moment.

“The matter of him breaching the code of conduct will be looked into by a committee but he has apparently responded to the showcause notice sent to him,” Mohsin said. “But primary reason is that he has not been 100 per cent fit in recent times and has failed fitness tests. The selectors have told him to rehab and clear the fitness tests,” the PCB chief had said.

But another school of thought believes that some PCB officials have not taken kindly to Fakhar being critical of their performance when the board held the Connection Camp last month. They believe that Fakhar has been punished for his openness in that meeting.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2024