Why Fakhar Zaman not playing today T20 World Cup 2022 match between Pakistan and South Africa at the SCG?

Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman is not playing the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Match 36 against South Africa in Sydney making his team to once again tinker with the Playing XI in this World Cup.

Winning the toss for the first time in this tournament, Pakistan captain Babar Azam was quick to reveal his decision of wanting to bat first in their penultimate Super 12 match.

“We will bat. Put runs on the board and then place them under pressure in the chase. We will try and give our best and then move forward,” Azam told the broadcaster at the toss before a must-win contest.

Much like his counterpart, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma was also looking to bat first tonight. Much better placed on the points table than Pakistan, a victory in this match will confirm a semi-final berth for the Proteas.

“We would have batted first as well. Looks a bit dry but there is some green. Batting first is an advantage but we need to keep them down to a low score and then chase well. We have a great bunch of guys and have derived a lot of support and confidence from them,” Bavuma told the broadcaster at the toss.

Why is Fakhar Zaman not playing today vs South Africa?

The reason why Zaman has been left out from the Playing XI after just one match is because he has been ruled out of the tournament after having aggravated his knee injury. Pakistan’s decision of hurrying the 32-year old player into their squad days before the start of T20 World Cup 2022 hasn’t gone down well from a fitness point of view.

“Fakhar Zaman and the team understood the risks of coming into the tournament and we got him in. You saw how he performed with batting in the last match, unfortunately in the last match he had a bit of a twist which aggravated his injury,” Pakistan team doctor Najeebullah Soomro said in a statement.

As a result, Pakistan have had to promote batter Mohammad Haris from the standbys to the main squad before this match. Haris, who had played all of a lone T20I in the past, has also been included into the Playing XI ahead of Asif Ali, Haider Ali and Khushil Shah.

South Africa, on the other hand, have also had to make a forced change as batter David Miller has been left out as a precautionary injury measure. Additionally, spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has been given a go ahead of Keshav Maharaj.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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