[Watch] Kuldeep Yadav cleans up Fakhar Zaman with a beauty in Asia Cup Super 4 match between India and Pakistan
Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman's poor form in the Asia Cup 2023 continued as he lost his wicket to Kuldeep Yadav in the Super 4 match on Monday, September 11, at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
After being asked to bat first, India notched up 356/2 in 50 overs on the back of magnificent contributions from their top four batters. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill hit brisk half-centuries while Virat Kohli and KL Rahul built on the platform and smashed fluent centuries to power India to a daunting total.
In a steep chase of 357, Pakistan got off to a poor start as Jasprit Bumrah and Co. bowled phenomenally with the new ball. Imam-ul-Haq (9), Babar Azam (10), and Mohammad Rizwan (2) got out cheaply, failing to make much of a contribution.
Senior opener Fakhar Zaman played watchfully and weathered the early storm. However, he could not shift gears later to take control of the proceedings. Fakhar attempted to take an aggressive route by going for a big shot against Kuldeep Yadav in the 20th over, but missed the ball completely to get cleaned up.
You can watch the dismissal in the video below:
"Fakhar Zaman has been really silent" - Aakash Chopra on Pakistan opener's recent struggles
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra recently shed light on the diminishing batting returns of Pakistan opening batter Fakhar Zaman over the past few matches. He opined that Fakhar was getting starts and looking decent at the crease but finding ways to get out without converting them into big knocks.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said:
"Fakhar Zaman has been really silent. He has not been amongst the runs at all. He hits two or three fours, he is not looking that bad while batting but hasn't scored runs and I remember he scored a lot of runs in the 2017 Champions Trophy final. He got out to a no-ball, which won't be bowled this time."
Do you agree with Chopra's views above? Let us know in the comments section.