Sarfaraz Ahmed not worried despite an ordinary World Cup for Fakhar Zaman

He was one of Pakistan’s high hopes for this World Cup. Being the fastest batsman to complete 1,000 runs in ODIs and also the only Pakistani to score a double hundred in a 50-overs game, Fakhar Zaman was expected to make his maiden World Cup a memorable affair. But the 29-year-old southpaw failed to deliver as per the expectations and finished with only half-century in eight outings in the tournament.

Zaman’s only fifty came against arch-rivals India at Old Trafford on June 16 and overall, he could manage 186 runs from eight games with the clash against Sri Lanka getting washed out. Even after scoring the half-century (62) against India, Zaman was criticised for not having carried on after doing all the hard work. Pakistan lost the game by 89 runs in DLS Method after Zaman’s century partnership with Babar Azam was broken by Kuldeep Yadav.

Zaman scored just one fifty in the competition

Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, however, is not ready to read too much into the opening batsman’s ordinary World Cup. He still believes that the southpaw is one of the best players in his side and expressed confidence that he will soon be back with runs.

“We tried to not make too many changes in the team. Fakhar in some matches started well, sometimes he didn’t. Fakhar is one of our best players, good and bad times come for everyone. He was in form in the England series and he tried his best and he’s still one of our best players,” Sarfaraz said in a media interaction.

Fakhar scored a hundred and fifty in the series against England ahead of the World Cup but came out with a dismal 23.25 average in the tournament. He had scored a match-winning hundred against India in the final of the Champions Trophy at the Oval in June 2017 and that had raised expectations from him even more.

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Sarfaraz though did not forget to back his team after it failed to make the last four. “As a team, we performed well. All the players, seniors and juniors all played their roles and I am happy with everyone. I would like to thank the coaching staff for all their hard work,” he said.