PCB issues Fakhar Zaman screening notice after post in support of Babar Azam

Babar Azam’s exit from the Pakistan squad has left Fakhar Zaman embroiled in a dispute with the PCB, with the cricket board issuing him a notice over a social media post. After it was revealed that Babar was left out of Pakistan’s squad for the second and third Tests, Fakhar took to X (formerly Twitter) before the PCB officially announced the squad.

He described the development as “worrying” and said “taking out arguably the best batsman Pakistan has ever produced” risked sending a “deeply negative message across the board”. He urged the PCB to “protect” the players rather than “undermine” them.

The PCB has strongly objected to the post and told ESPNcricinfo that the batsman had been issued a criminal record for bringing the game in Pakistan into disrepute. They have claimed that Fakhar, as a centrally contracted player, has a responsibility not to publicly make such comments against his employer. They are believed to be disappointed that Fakhar has not raised any complaints privately.

It is worrying to hear suggestions of dropping Babar Azam. India did not bench Virat Kohli during his difficult spell between 2020 and 2023 when he averaged 19.33, 28.21 and 26.50 respectively. When we think about removing our best batsman, arguably the best Pakistani…

— Fakhar Zaman (@FakharZamanLive) October 13, 2024

ESPNcricinfo understands that Fakhar has not responded to the notice, which was issued just yesterday. The punishment for the alleged breach of the Code of Conduct depends on the response and whether he accepts the accusation. There has been no further comment from Fakhar so far and the post remains available on X.

The PCB has described Babar’s exit from the squad for the remainder of the series as a break ahead of the white-ball series in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. However, in context, it becomes harder to justify this considering the significance of this series – with Pakistan trailing 0-1 and the fact that Babar did not ask for a break and was willing to play the ongoing Test. He was out of form in Test cricket for almost two years, having failed to score a half-century in the last 18 innings.