Explained: Why Pakistan weren't allowed a runner for injured Fakhar Zaman v New Zealand

Two balls into the 2025 Champions Trophy opener, Fakhar Zaman walked off the ground with a “muscular sprain” he picked up while chasing Will Young’s cover drive. He returned twice, from the 13th to the 15th over, then from the 34th over to the end of the New Zealand innings.

Unfortunately, that did not account for the time Fakhar had spent off the ground to tend to his injury. As a result, he had to wait for either 20 minutes or five wickets to fall, and Saud Shakeel walked out to open with Babar Azam.

Opening for the first time in his ODI career, Shakeel struggled throughout a 19-ball six. When Will O’Rourke snared him, Fakhar still had to spend some time off the field, and Mohammad Rizwan emerged instead. O’Rourke got Rizwan too, for a 14-ball three.

Fakhar finally came to bat at four. Six balls into the partnership, Fakhar stepped out against Michael Bracewell to slog through the leg-side, but the top edge ballooned over cover point. There were two runs in it, but the injured Fakhar could only stroll to the other end for a single.

Why was Fakhar Zaman not allowed a runner?

In another era, Fakhar would have been allowed to bat with a runner – a teammate who would run for the injured batter if and only if the opposition captain consented. However, in their board meeting on October 1, 2011, the ICC abolished the rule in international cricket.

However, runners are allowed at some levels. The Laws of Cricket, designed for all levels of cricket, have accommodation for that in Law 25.5.

It is worth a mention that the ICC did make an exception to international cricket in 2018, in a Hurricane Relief T20 match between the West Indies and an ICC World XI at Lord’s, where World XI captain Shahid Afridi batted with Sam Billings as his runner. Since the match got T20I status, it remains the only instance of runners being allowed in international cricket since the 2011 change.

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