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Follow UsFakhar Zaman is back. He can hit sixes. And he doesn’t need any “protein”. Since his comeback, he has struck 18 sixes in two innings, scoring 211 runs from 155 deliveries. Before his return against Bangladesh on October 31, Pakistan had the fourth-lowest balls/six ratio in the tournament, taking nearly nine overs per six.
Even those sixes would come when the batters were set. As a result, Pakistan had only two sixes in the powerplay (before Fakhar’s return). Despite good starts, they were left behind in this high-scoring World Cup. The biggest contrast was seen against India. Heading into the contest, Pakistan had only three powerplay sixes from 2022 onwards, the lowest for a Test-playing nation. Rohit Sharma alone struck four powerplay sixes that night.
Fakhar Zaman was the only answer to Pakistan’s paucity of sixes. However, he was out of form and dropped. Then he was nursing a knee injury. Not long ago, he had struck three successive ODI hundreds - scoring 101, 117 and 180* against New Zealand between January and April this year.
But then, the build-up to the World Cup was as bad for Fakhar as it was for the Pakistan team. They failed to qualify for the 2023 Asia Cup final. He scored only 65 runs in four innings, averaging 16.3. Post the unbeaten 180, he had 10 innings without a fifty and the streak stretched to 11 in Pakistan’s World Cup opener against the Netherlands.
Fakhar was out of the XI, replaced by Abdullah Shafique.
The Shafique-Imam Ul Haq duo forged a 134 and 56-run stand in five innings between them. Adding 53.4 runs per innings for the first wicket, it is still the highest-averaging opening duo for Pakistan this year, not just this World Cup.
However, the impact had been missing. Especially in Pakistan’s batting setup which consisted of no six-hitter in the top five. That is not it. Their out-of-touch bowling required a cushion of 30 runs extra which was not happening for them.
If ‘pace is pace yaar’ - the adage Pakistan cricket lives and dies by - then ‘power-hitting is also power-hitting yaar’. You are either born into it or you have to work your backside off to get to a certain level.
FAKHAR WAS BORN INTO IT!!!
He was indeed Pakistan’s only hope when they were set a target of 402 to keep their semi-final chances alive. If he had gone early, Pakistan would be dead and buried there.
"I said to Fakhar if he plays 15 overs we'll be ahead,” said Babar Azam after the match.
In a rain-shortened game, where only 25.3 overs were possible in the chase, Fakhar smoked 11 sixes, three more than the Kiwis did in their 50 overs. Consequently, Pakistan were never behind in the chase.
It was not sailing sixes all the way along. It felt like butchery but there was a method to Fakhar’s madness - a blend of experience and aggression.
“When openers go out to play, we understand how the wicket is playing. We decided that the wicket is very good for batting. We have to survive the first four overs,” said Fakhar after his unbeaten 126 off 81 balls won the game for Pakistan against New Zealand.
The four-over mark was a very specific indication from Fakhar. He clubbed the first ball of the fifth over for four and then clobbered a six over fine leg making Trent Boult err in both line and length. The six over fine leg made Shane Watson go “Woahh!!” in the commentary box. Abdullah Shafique had just departed but the southpaw showed he is going to stick to his words. The 83-meter hit awoke the crowd and the Kiwis about the possibilities of 402 being scaled down.
He began Boult’s next over with another half-a-dozen over the cow corner. Another six in the ninth over, above a jumping deep square leg fielder. The left-handed opener targeted the short boundaries on the leg side from one end.
No sixes in the powerplay you said?
The last time Pakistan hit five sixes in the powerplay was against Zimbabwe in 2001. Fakhar hit four of them on this Saturday evening (November 4) in Bangalore. Pakistan were 75/1 in 10 overs and the run chase was well and truly on.
He hit the spinners for seven sixes, with four of them charging down the ground. Overall, Fakhar took 77 runs off the slower bowlers from only 46 deliveries. The leg-spinner Ish Sodhi looked clueless when Fakhar struck him for successive sixes in the 25th over.
Spin was too easy for him as the 33-year old dispatched the full deliveries from their presence. As the length was pulled back, Fakhar was slowed down. Hence, playing only two seamers backfired New Zealand big time.
From the composition of the opponent’s bowling attack to the conditions, multiple things were in favor of power-hitting. However, without Fakhar, it is tough to imagine Pakistan putting 200 on the board in the 26th over when rain ended the game prematurely. Chasing at over 8 runs per over, they were 21 runs ahead on DLS at the halfway mark, with nine wickets in hand. If the rain had not arrived, Pakistan were still cruising to a win, even by their standards of volatility. Adding to the psychological pressure built by Fakhar’s assault, 52% of his runs were scored in sixes.
Making his comeback after a five-game layoff, the left-hander struck seven sixes in his 81 from 74 runs. Then, he hit an already-deflated Bangladesh side. Now, he has pecked down on the confidence of the Kiwis.
The two knocks have re-established Fakhar’s importance at the top of Pakistan’s batting order and such batters in general in ODI cricket. You need at least one of the two openers to put pressure on the bowlers. Batters like Rohit Sharma, David Warner and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have created a difference for their team. Pakistan were missing out on all the fun.
Around a decade and a half ago, the Indian team persisted with a struggling Virender Sehwag, purely based on how he could make things easier for his fellow teammates. Batting in an unbeaten 194-run stand, Babar must have felt the same as Fakhar’s knock allowed him to find his hands on a good deck.
Pakistan have batted with an outdated template in the first half of the tournament but with Fakhar's return, they have fixed something at the top. And their fate is still in their hands as far as a place in the semis goes. Qudrat ka Nizam is in full swing, as was Fakhar Zaman's bat on a rainy evening in Bangalore.
