“Selection committee to decide Fakhar Zaman’s future,” says Mohsin Naqvi

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi broke silence on the exclusion of Fakhar Zaman from Pakistan’s white-ball squads and central contracts, stating selection committee will decide the batter’s future.

In a casual interaction with the media in Karachi, the PCB chief asserted that he never intervened in the selection process while addressing the concerns regarding Fakhar’s saga.

“I don’t interfere in any player’s selection. The selection committee will decide whether Fakhar Zaman will be in the team or not,” said Naqvi.

“I never told [selection committee] to select or drop a certain player,” he added.

The PCB, on Sunday, announced the central contracts for the 2024-25 international season, along with the squads for the tours to Australia and Zimbabwe.

However, Fakhar Zaman’s name was missing from the central contract list and squads for the upcoming tours.

During a press conference in Lahore, a journalist asked the PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, if Fakhar Zaman was left out due to his social media post defending Babar Azam.

In response, Naqvi acknowledged the controversy surrounding Fakhar’s social media post, which has been deemed a violation of the central contract.

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However, he emphasized that the primary factor leading to Fakhar’s exclusion was due to concerns over the batter’s fitness.

“There is the tweet issue definitely. But that doesn’t matter as much as his fitness tests. He had two issues: the fitness test and the show-cause notice, which is still pending. That is why he hasn’t been included (in the central contracts list),” Naqvi said.

“If a player is dropped by the selection committee, another player starts tweeting against it. This isn’t allowed and will not be permitted. However, the bigger issue is his fitness test.”

Remember, Fakhar Zaman expressed his disappointment through a social media post over the selection committee’s decision to drop star batter Babar Azam after the first Test against England.

Consequently, the PCB issued a show-cause notice to the left-hander over breaching the Code of Conduct.

READ: PCB chief meets Rizwan, Salman ahead of Australia tour