Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman, who starred in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, will not play against India on Sunday (February 23).
Why is Fakhar Zaman not playing the India v Pakistan Champions Trophy match?
In Pakistan's opening game of the tournament, Fakhar suffered an injury just two balls into the match, attempting to prevent a boundary, which he did successfully. After clutching his side and appearing to be in pain, he left the field before returning from overs 13 to 15 of the first innings.
Read more: 'Poor decision' - Batting injured Fakhar Zaman at No.4 hampered Babar, says Doull
However, he had to go off once again, and did not return until the 34th over of the innings. His time off the field meant that Fakhar could only end up batting at No.4, rather than opening the batting for Pakistan. He laboured to 24 off 41 balls as he could not run comfortably, and Pakistan ended up losing the match by 60 runs.
19 matches 🇮🇳
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) February 22, 2025
60 wickets @ 13.28 🤯
15.5 strike rate ⚡️
5 five-wicket hauls 👏
Mohammed Shami is an ODI beast, especially in ICC tournaments 💪#ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/QKCuXDiaue
The following day, it was confirmed that Fakhar had suffered an oblique tear, and had been ruled out of the entire Champions Trophy as a result. Fellow left-hander Imam-ul-Haq was called up to the squad in Fakhar's place, and has been named in the playing XI for their clash against India.
The last time these two teams faced off in this competition was during the final in 2017. In that match, Fakhar starred with a stunning 114 off 106 balls to power Pakistan to 338-4, before they bowled India out for just 158 to secure the title.
Playing XIs, India vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy match No.5
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav. (unchanged XI)
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Salman Ali Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed. (one change: Imam-ul-Haq in for Fakhar Zaman)
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