LAHORE: Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman was served a show-cause notice by the country’s cricket board on Sunday night, following his social media message in favour of Babar Azam, who was dropped from the national squad for the upcoming second and third Test against England.

Hours before Babar’s ouster from the squad by the newly-rejigged selection committee, speculations over the eventual decision were ripe when Fakhar took to social media platform ‘X’, expressing fear that sidelining Babar “could send a deeply negative message across the team”.

“It is concerning to hear suggestions about dropping Babar Azam,” the flamboyant batter wrote on Saturday.

“India did not bench Virat Kohli during his rough touch between 2020 to 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, 26.50, respectively.

“There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them.”

Fakhar’s remarks were deemed as a violation of his central contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), its spokesperson told Dawn on Monday.

According to the agreement, the board’s representative added, a contracted player did not have the liberty to speak against the PCB’s policies in public.

“Fakhar was served the notice on Sunday’s night and he was asked to submit his reply by Oct 21,” he said.

“If his reply is not satisfactory Fakhar will face the penalties according to the central contract.”

Babar, who has failed to score a Test half-century in his last 18 innings, was dropped from the national squad along with stalwarts Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Sarfraz Ahmed following Pakistan’s loss to England by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test match in Multan.

While the selection committee — which was joined by former Test cricketers Azhar Ali and Aaqib Javed, along with recently-retired international umpire Aleem Dar — said the decision was taken to provide “rest” to the said players, it drew criticism from fans and ex-players.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote on ‘X’: “So Pakistan have not won in a while. Go 1 nil down in the series (against Pakistan in Multan) and decided to drop the best player in @Babar Azam258…guess Pakistan cricket is full of surprises but this tops the lot..absolutely stupid decision..unless he asked for a break!!!.”

Sources told Dawn that Babar was advised to take rest in a meeting with former team-mate by Azhar on Saturday.

Shaheen and Naseem, meanwhile, both informed the PCB on the same day that they had minor niggles and that they too needed rest, the sources added.

Pakistan will take on England in the second Test from Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2024