Fakhar Zaman confident of returning for Pakistan at ICC Champions Trophy

The previously out-of-favour opener aims to make his way back into the Pakistan white-ball side as the defending champions host their first ICC event in 29 years.

Pakistan’s top-order batter, Fakhar Zaman, is confident of returning to international cricket after eight months when his country hosts the ICC Champions Trophy in February and March.

Fakhar has not played international cricket since Pakistan’s first-round exit from the T20 World Cup in June and subsequently missed out on a central contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the first time in eight years.

“The plan was to get fully fit and play in the Champions Trophy,” Fakhar said. “I am lucky to be fit right now. I started from the Champions Trophy 2017, and that went really well for me. Now I am very excited for the next edition also.”

Fakhar had a memorable tournament in 2017 when he scored a match-winning century in the final against India.

“People don’t know that after the T20 World Cup, I got sick,” Fakhar explained to the Vipers Voices podcast as he prepared to play the International League T20 (ILT20) for Desert Vipers in the United Arab Emirates. “I was not part of the team because of my medical condition, but now I’m 100 percent sure I will play for Pakistan.”

The veteran batter made headlines when he criticised the national cricket administration just before Babar Azam was controversially rested for the final two home Test matches against England late last year due to his inconsistent form in red-ball cricket. The PCB issued Fakhar a show-cause notice for his social media post in favour of Babar.

The post did not go down well with PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who also expressed concerns over Fakhar’s fitness.

“It cannot happen like that. If