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The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 hosts, Pakistan were handed a horrific blow after their opener Fakhar Zaman sustained an injury in the opening match of the tournament against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi. While a day after sustaining the injury, on Thursday, February 20, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that the southpaw will miss the remainder of the season, along with missing the much-awaited match against India in Dubai.
Notably, Fakhar Zaman sustained the injury while fielding during the opening match. The incident occurred when Fakhar Zaman sprinted from inside the 30-yard circle to stop a boundary after Will Young drove a delivery off Shaheen Shah Afridi. While he successfully stopped the ball from going for a boundary, he landed akwardly, resulting on the injury. The left-handed batter was later confirmed to have suffered an oblique tear.
Imam-ul-Haq to replace Fakhar Zaman in Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy 2025
On Thursday, February 20, Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed Imam-ul-Haq as Fakhar Zaman’s replacement in the squad for the remainder of the season. “The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 has approved Imam-ul-Haq as a replacement for Fakhar Zaman in the Pakistan squad. Twenty-nine-year-old Imam, who has played 72 ODIs, was named as a replacement after Fakhar was ruled out due to an oblique injury," ICC’s statement read.
Speaking of the match against New Zealand, the Men in Green suffered a 60-run defeat at the National Stadium in Karachi. The hosts were bowled out for 260 runs during their chase of 321-run target. While Babar Azam managed to score 64 runs, but lacked fluency, taking 90 balls to reach this score.
Pakistan’s updated squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
