Dubai (PNP)
Pakistan top-order powerhouse Fakhar Zaman is getting ready for the ILT20 with the Desert Vipers, but he believes he still has plenty to offer Pakistan.
The 34 year-old has not played for his country since the ICC T20 World Cup in June of 2024, but he told the Vipers Voices podcast he has not turned the page on his international career.
“Hundred percent I will play for Pakistan (again),” he said. “Actually, many people do not know about that, but after the T20 World Cup I got sick and because of the medical condition I was not fit, so I was not a part of the team.
“But now I recovered a hundred percent, and you will see me in the next international series which Pakistan plays.”
The next major white-ball tournament for Pakistan is the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, hosted by Pakistan, and it is an event that, in 2017, saw Fakhar Zaman announce himself on the world stage, with a match-winning hundred against India in the final at The Oval in London.
“My plan has been around the Champions Trophy (in 2025),” he said. “I did not play in the Australia tour or in the South Africa tour, so my whole plan was just to play in the Champions Trophy to make myself available and to be fully fit for the tournament.
Incumbent Pakistan opener Saim Ayub was recently injured during Pakistan’s tour to South Africa potentially opening up a spot for Fakhar, but the Pakistani batter said he expected to stay with the Desert Vipers for the whole tournament while wishing for Saim’s speedy recovery.
Fakhar was a top target for Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody for this year’s tournament in the UAE, with the Australia ICC Cricket World Cup winner calling the left-hander “a true match-winner.”
From Fakhar’s perspective, he said the opportunity to link up with the Desert Vipers was not something that required a great deal of thought before he signed on.