Pride of Pakistan

Courtesy:- Editorial

Records upon records tumbled as Pakistan completed a whitewash in a five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe. The 5-0 triumph is Pakistan’s seventh, and a third against Zimbabwe. Others include two against Bangladesh and one each against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

While the victory was a result of teamwork, the series turned out to be really memorable for Fakhar Zaman, who was unstoppable right through the series. On a run-minting spree, the left-handed opener smashed a brilliant 210 not out off 156 balls in the fourth one-dayer. His double hundred, the first by any Pakistani cricketer, was studded with 24 fours and 5 sixes. During the same game, Fakhar — together with fellow opener Imamul Haq — also broke the record of all-time opening partnership in the ODI history, amassing 304 runs. The match also saw Pakistan surpass its previous highest total — 385 runs against Bangladesh — reaching just one run short of the 400 mark. 

The fifth one-dayer saw the flamboyant opener clinch one more record by becoming the fastest cricketer to score 1,000 ODI runs. Fakhar reached the milestone in just 18 innings, surpassing the likes of Sir Vivian Richards, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Quinton de Kock and Babar Azam, all of whom reached 1,000 runs in 21 innings. Fakhar’s brilliance can be gauged from the fact that Indian run-machine Virat Kohli had reached the same landmark in his 24th ODI innings.

Fakhar, whose name literally means pride, has really done Pakistan proud. But what’s expected of him is a display of consistency with the bat. Only then can he fill the prized boots of Saeed Anwar — who is one of the best openers ever to grace the game anywhere and whose record of 194 runs, made against India in 1997, was broken by Fakhar after a long gap of 21 years.