FAKHAR AND IMAM DROPPED!
It’s been making rounds on social media, so I want to share my perspective as well. Fakhar and Imam are not only out of the XI and the squad, but also from the central contract. It’s a huge waste of investment and effort that was put into them from 2018-2023. But that’s how things are in Pakistan. We have a habit of demolishing whatever progress we make every few years. It’s almost a national sport, done in the name of progress or the need for improvement.
Many critics might argue that both players failed in the big tournaments like the Asia Cup 2023 and World Cup 2023. Imam is considered a Test match player, and Fakhar faced heavy criticism and was dropped until his innings at Chinnaswamy because he didn’t score a fifty in his last ten innings. Critics call for better players and so on. However, despite their struggles, both still maintain averages in the high 40s, which is impressive if you know the stats of those who represented Pakistan before them. Their opening partnership average has been in the 40s over five years together—something only acknowledged by those who have seen cricket before this period. Yet, they are now being discarded as if they were never there.
I don’t deny their shortcomings. Fakhar has been inconsistent, especially in spinning conditions, and Imam tends to get stuck once the field opens and against spinners. Still, Pakistan spent five years grooming them together, and now, after a year out, they are no longer close to the squad. Maybe there could be some adjustments based on current form, but it seems more about a new setup not understanding the progress made before them. Since the Saeed/Aamir pair, Pakistan hasn’t had a consistent opening pair for two decades. Players like Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, and Azhar Ali all played but never formed a consistent pair.
Looking ahead, we have Saim and Abdullah, who have an opening average of around 10 in six Test matches on flat tracks. From the bottom to the top, we operate without any long-term plans, continually destroying previous efforts and starting from scratch every two years, moving in circles.
