Pakistan Cricket Board has issued a show cause notice to its centrally contracted player Fakhar Zaman for an alleged breach of the players code of conduct.
Fakhar had questioned the decision to exclude Babar Azam from the Pakistan squad for the second and third Test against England in a social media post on Sunday.
Fakhar has been asked to submit his reply to the show cause notice by October 21 after the PCB informed him in a notice that he had committed a breach of his contract by criticising the board policies and selection.
“It’s concerning to hear suggestions about dropping Babar Azam. India didn’t bench Virat Kohli during his rough stretch between 2020 and 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively.
“If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team. There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them,” Fakhar wrote on X.
Pakistan on Sunday dropped four players for the remainder of their ongoing Test series against England following an innings defeat in the first match recently. Along with Babar, PCB also dropped Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Sarfaraz Khan
Aqib Javed, a Pakistan selector, explained the reason behind the decision in a statement. “We’ve had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan’s demanding 2024-25 international schedule,” Aaqib said.
“With these factors in mind and in the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we’ve made the decision to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi,” he added.
Pakistan managed to lose the first Test despite scoring 556 in the first innings.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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