‘There is no truth…’: Pakistan star rubbishes retirement reports following Champions Trophy elimination

Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman, who recently sustained an injury in the Men in Green’s Champions Trophy opener against New Zealand, has rubbished reports about his retirement. Zaman also stated that he wants to continue playing all forms of cricket and should be fit for national duty in a month’s time. 

In a video posted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on X, Zaman addressed the retirement rumours and revealed that he was just thinking of taking some time off from cricket.

“Well, I’ve also heard a lot about this and my friends have also sent messages. There is no truth in this. One-day is my favourite format and, yes, because of my thyroid (problem) I was thinking of taking some time off from cricket,” Zaman said in the video.

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“But retirement never crossed my mind. I want to play One-day, T20, even I want to play Test cricket,” Zaman added.

“As far as my comeback (from injury) is concerned, I will hopefully return to competitive cricket in a month. I got an idea (about my Champions Trophy campaign ending) after the pain I felt,” Zaman further added.

The experienced Pakistan batter has so far featured in 86 ODIs for the Men in Green, averaging a little over 46. Zaman suffered from a muscle strain during the first over of the match against New Zealand and didn’t come out to field for the rest of the innings.

He was soon ruled out from the tournament and was replaced by left-handed batter Imam-ul-Haq. Zaman’s ouster was a blow to the side as he was in reasonably good form. Pakistan suffered defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India which saw them get eliminated from the Champions Trophy due to consecutive losses.