Which minds benched Fakhar for the most of the tournament? Sehwag’s vicious jab at “protein” as Pakistan survives a knockout punch
When New Zealand set a formidable 402-run goal, who would have predicted that Pakistan would win? When questioned about the likelihood of Pakistan pursuing it, Ramiz Raja hesitated, grinned, and then sidestepped the question. His attitude pretty much said it all. Nevertheless, Pakistan triumphed after a very long wait at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday night. The victory was mostly due to two things: Fakhar Zaman’s explosive century before the second innings and the persistent rain that fell throughout the second innings. Pakistan averted a knockout punch in the 2023 World Cup thanks to the undefeated innings of 126 that enabled them win by 21 runs using the DLS technique.
Due to a run of subpar performances, Zaman was benched after the first game against the Netherlands. But Imam-ul-Haq was out of form, so the left-hander was brought back for the match against Bangladesh, where he hit 81 in Pakistan’s victory at Eden Gardens before smashing a century in Bengaluru against the runners-up of 2019 in a game that was a do-or-die situation.
Before Fakhar and skipper Babar Azam stitched up a brilliant 194-run stand, the joint-highest partnership for Pakistan in ODI World Cups on any wicket, the 1992 winners had lost Abdullah Shafique early in the chase. Before rain interrupted play for the second and final time, Pakistan reached 200 for the loss of one wicket in 25.3 overs with the captain still undefeated at 66.
Inspired by the hit, India’s batting great Virender Sehwag brutally attacked Pakistan, questioning their reasoning for benching an excellent batsman like Fakhar for the most of the competition.
“Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan’s finest hitter by far, put up an incredible innings. God knows what minds kept him sitting out the majority of the competition. “Jajbe ki bhi, protein ki bhi kami nahin,” he wrote on X.
Imam was questioned about Pakistan’s top-order batsmen’ lack of sixes earlier in the tournament during a press conference. In response, he said, “Maybe we should eat less carbohydrates and more proteins, but we simply don’t want to speak about it. If we don’t hit sixes or fours, we don’t really feel it. It’s just what we’re doing to support the group.”
In actuality, the top four teams have only scored 36 sixes in this World Cup so far, which is the fifth highest out of the 10 teams. In his last two innings, Fakhar alone blasted 18 sixes, 11 of them on his way to a century.
