When specifically asked about Fakhar’s spot, Bradburn would say, “We’ve got four to five options that we could put out at the top of the order and we’d be very confident that they can deliver not only the runs but the tempo that we want to play at. We want to create a tempo for the middle order and the back end of our innings to build from. We’re not getting that at the moment, so those are discussions that we’re having.”
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From a maverick dasher to a self-doubting plodder, Fakhar’s form has plagued him. Once, in a game against England in that 2017 Champions Trophy, he kept trying hook nearly every ball at Cardiff that had long square-boundaries and shorter straighter ones. In the dressing room, a perplexed captain Sarfraz Ahmed was tearing his hair apart, shouting, “Arre kya kar raha hai yeh! Mat maar, don’t hit”. When Fakhar returned to the dressing room after a breezy 57, he told them his rationale, and would later recount it on Geo Tv: “Bhai, I was trying to arrange for the top-edge! If it connects it would be a six over midwicket, else top-edge six over short boundary!” The team was in splits. How would you plan for a top-edge?!
From a man who planned for a top-edge to man surviving edges, now; can he free himself and have a go if he gets one more opportunity?
Coming into the tournament opener the 33-year old Fakhar Zaman’s form has been a concern for the side. He had a poor Asia Cup and even in the warmup game against Australia on a belter, the left-hander struggled with his foot movement. Not only haven’t the runs coming, but he has been chewing up deliveries in the Powerplay.
The Men in Green has been one of the sides in this World Cup that continues to rely on playing conventional ODI cricket. With three of the top four all being accumulators, it becomes important for Pakistan for someone like Fakhar to start explosively.
Even against a mediocre bowling attack like Netherlands Babar Azam’s men managed to post only 286 on the board on a decent batting surface. Once Fakhar fell early, the rest of the batting immediately went into their shells.
Their next opponents Sri Lanka has been a bit of a boogie team for Babar’s men in recent times in high-profile games. In the recently concluded Asia Cup Super 4 game in Colombo, Sri Lanka clinched a nailbiter to eliminate them from the tournament.
“Yeah, look, we’re really looking forward to playing Sri Lanka. They’re a team that we’ve become familiar with over recent times, obviously with the Asia Cup, and we know well that they have had the upper hand on us over the last year in white-ball cricket,” acknowledged Bradburn.
Nevertheless, Bradburn also revealed that Pakistan have a secret weapon up their ranks against Dasun Shanaka’s side for the Tuesday clash.
“We have a secret weapon, if you like, in Mickey Arthur (Team director), who has coached them (Sri Lanka) before,” Bradburn will go on to say. Arthur has been involved with the Sri Lankan team from 2019-2021 and the side almost continues to remain the same.
“Our scouting meetings this morning and our video meetings this morning, Mickey was a very, very handy addition to those meetings to be able to add in some intricate points around their batters and bowlers.” Arthur might be the secret weapon but it’s the batsmen who have to provide the secret sauce.
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