Karachi, 20 February (HS): Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman has been ruled out of the remainder of the Champions Trophy 2025 after suffering an oblique injury during the tournament's opening match against New Zealand. Pakistan have named Imam-ul-Haq as his replacement.
Zaman had to leave the field after just two balls after suffering an injury while fielding in the match against New Zealand. Opener Will Young played Shaheen Afridi's delivery through the covers, Zaman chased the ball and managed to stop it from crossing the boundary but got injured in the process.
Zaman later returned to the field in the latter stages of the first innings but could not start the innings later given the long time out of the field. Even when he came to bat at number 4, he struggled to run between the wickets. He scored 24 off 41 balls in a 47-run partnership with Babar Azam off 65 balls.
Pakistan, who were chasing a target of 320 runs, lost the opening match by 60 runs. The Pakistani team will now play their next match against arch-rivals India on February 23 and will then take on Bangladesh in their final Group A match in Rawalpindi on February 27.
Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Imam has not played for Pakistan since 2023 and last played the ODI format in the World Cup that year. Overall, he has played 72 ODIs and scored 3138 runs at an average of 48.27.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
