Unfortunate end to Fakhar Zaman's dream England journey before it could begin

If there is one player that the Pakistani cricket lovers are valuing more than gold, then that is their left-handed opening batsman Fakhar Zaman. And why should not they? Zaman was given a chance to open the innings for the men in green in the second of ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Pakistani head coach Mickey Arthur and his deputies wanted someone to replace their out of form opener Ahmed Shehzad.

The opening slot had been an area of concern for them but the worries lasted only till Zaman’s arrival. The 27-year Pakistani navy man scripted what has been a fairytale for the Pakistani team. The opener managed to lay a string rock solid foundation in nearly every match. But the limelight came to him only in the final game where Pakistan took on their rivals India. Zaman was dismissed earlier on by Jasprit Bumrah, only to find that he has been gifted an extra life by the bowler since he has over-stepped.

Zaman went on to score a stunning century which changed the complexion of the game completely. India could never recover from that assault as Pakistan comfortably grabbed their first ever CT title. Since then, many clubs from all over the world are trying to persuade the cricketer in joining that squad. One such successful club is Somerset, who managed to get Zaman;s signature in their contract papers. It would have been a dream debut for Zaman in the Somerset jersey. Zaman was given a visa by his team and also a flight ticket of today (Sunday).

Pakistan called back its players

But the batsman’s dreams ended in a rather unfortunate way as Pakistan has called up their players featuring in the English county competition and Caribbean Premier League due to a rescheduling.

“Owing to the late finalisation and rescheduling of the ICC World XI series to be played mid-September, the PCB has been obliged to schedule its National T20 Cup to start end August and finish before the World series so that its national team can leave for UAE to play Sri Lanka starting 24th September. This has compelled PCB to call back centrally contracted players besides the ones in contention for selection for the World XI series next month from their ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and English county stints,” stated an official release from PCB.