Legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram has revealed the reason behind opening batter Fakhar Zaman’s poor form in lead up to the ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
Akram believes that Zaman doesn’t not take time to settle down on the wicket, especially when he is out of from.
“Fakhar Zaman has been out of form since the past month and a half. He was with me in LPL as well, there too he struggled,” Akram said on a local sports channel.
“When you are out of form, the only way to improve things is by working on your technique and basics. You need to go out and middle a few balls before trying to hit big shots. Going after the bowling straight away won’t help you at all. I think this is the problem with Fakhar Zaman,” he added.
It must be noted that Zaman has highest score of 30 in his last seven ODI innings, which could force Pakistan to open with Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq during the mega event.
The ICC Cricket World Cup is set to resume its action, picking up from where it left off four years ago, today.
Ahmedabad, the world's largest cricket stadium in India will host a clash between the 2019 finalists, England and New Zealand. If the opening match of the 2023 edition manages to match the excitement of the 2019 final, it will undoubtedly kickstart the tournament with a bang.
A total of 10 teams will fight for the elusive title across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19.
The Cricket World Cup will be played in the round-robin format with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches.
The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, which will be held in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.
The winners of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will earn US$4 million. The runners-up will receive US$2 million, while the losing semi-finalists will earn $800,000 each from the total prize pot of US$10 million.
The winners of each match in the group stage will receive US$40,000 and the six teams that do not qualify for the semi-finals will receive a payment of US$100,000.
- Fakhar Zaman